


ClicheStorm 2

by Ysavvryl



Series: ClicheStorm Duo [2]
Category: Pocket Monsters: Black 2 & White 2 | Pokemon Black 2 & White 2 Versions
Genre: Amnesia, Comedy, Gen, Memory Link, Multiple Worlds, Mystery, Pokemon Journey, Time Travel, price of fame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-22
Updated: 2016-07-15
Packaged: 2018-07-16 15:13:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 44
Words: 221,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7273222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ysavvryl/pseuds/Ysavvryl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She's an energetic optimistic girl with a great love for Water Pokémon.  He's a quiet amnesiac guy who believes that he's living in a video game.  They fight crime!  And try to convince everyone that they are not dating.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The White Beginning

Shrill sirens filled the air when he came out of the store. He looked around, but the sky was dark and half of the city lights weren't on. From another block nearby, there was a riot of violent clamor. It was an unfortunately common event lately; the main reason he'd gone out at this time was because it had seemed quiet. Not wanting to get caught in that, he ran away from the noise. He seemed to be out of sight of the chaos and he didn't hear anyone following him.

When had things gotten this bad? He couldn't think of a certain point; law in this area had been eroding over several years, picking up speed as the chaos spread. Now there was broken glass scattered through the cracked streets while a great many buildings crumbled. There were fewer safe areas, if the security there wasn't an illusion. And to think, the changes that had led to this situation had been anticipated as a necessary revolution of thought.

It had been that, right?

He didn't let himself think on that too long. It was more important to get home, which should be distant enough to still be safe. Feeling a little more secure with fresh supplies on hand, he kept his travel bag close and ran. It was close to the store, but with his nerves on edge, it didn't seem like that.

And then he saw her, a brown-haired girl with a white and pink baseball cap looking at the sky. She didn't seem familiar, but what struck him as strange was how she seemed lost in thought out there in the open. Didn't she know it was dangerous, especially to a lone girl? He could just leave her standing there. Yet if he did, he'd certainly worry about what happened to her, being oblivious like that.

"Hey!"

…

"I'm home," he said, glancing around. The windows were barred and nothing had been moved. Still safe.

"Who do you live with?" she asked.

"Nobody." Once she was in, he shut the door and latched the three locks closed.

"Then why do you say that?"

He shrugged. "Habit."

…

"Hey, did you ever dream of going to another world?"

He glanced up from his DS as she plopped down in the seat across the coffee table. "What for?"

She shrugged and gestured out the window. "Well it's not like this place is that great. Sorry if it offends you."

"Not really," he said, looking back to his game. "I am being escapist, but only with the games, and only because it's as you say."

"Then here, try this one." She tossed a white DS cartridge onto the table between them. "If you start a new game on that, you'll end up in that world."

Picking up the game to look at it, he noticed it was a Pokemon game he had picked up some time ago. But the label was smudged and all he could tell of the version was a 'C'. "Is this...?"

…

"Why me? You could use it to get back home."

"I read your journal and gave it some thought."

…

The apartment was quiet again, as he'd lived for quite some time. It had suited him fine and yet, now it wasn't. After having a lively guest like that girl around, the atmosphere seemed stifled and cold. There was the chaos outside, and the stillness in here, like a morgue. Nothing changed in here and the outside degraded.

Actually, something had changed. He looked over the odd game she had given him. A way to another world, a way out of this mess. It didn't seem logical, and yet he found some hope in holding it. Given how he'd found her, maybe it only a claim of the insane. But if it did work...

If it didn't work, then at least it'd be a new game to play, something he hadn't had in a long time. He picked up his white DS and popped out the Pokemon game he'd been playing previously in exchange for this Pokemon 'C'. He was pretty sure that it wasn't Crystal, since it was a DS cartridge, not GBC. With that in, he flipped the cover up and slid the power bar up.

The console started up as usual. On the menu screen, he could finally see that this was 'Pokemon ClicheStorm 2', which was a version he'd never heard of. He stared at the title for a moment, partly stunned that they'd be daring enough to title it that and partly stunned that it managed to be a sequel. What was the purpose in choosing such a derogatory title? At any rate, he tapped on the title to get the game started. He let the opening movie play like he did with all of his games when he started them.

This one was a particularly weird sequence of images flashing by.

Lightning illuminated a rain-soaked scene where the legendary Keldeo backed up warily, facing off against a unidentifiable human figure.

A broken mask that seemed made of ice lay on the ground while someone fell in the background.

Dust flew through the air between two sides of a Pokemon battle, in a setting that seemed appropriate for a high noon face-off scene in a Western.

Reshiram and Zekrom descended in a forest clearing, as two young men waited for them.

A different guy sat in a library with a blond girl nearby, both looking through newspaper clippings and discussing something.

A strange trio of ninjas observed a couple talking by a tree and garden of tulips, the couple unaware of their presence.

A broken figure of a man in a large cloak standing at the edge of a ship with another nearby, looking over a frozen landscape.

And other images, including one that seemed to be of himself, only smiling and laughing with a girl he didn't know yet while they ran along a wooded path.

Maybe the offer was real? At any rate, the game Pokemon ClicheStorm 2 was now on its title screen, with an image of an unfamiliar Pokemon on the bottom screen. It seemed to be a Dragon type, and it resembled some others. But which ones... he was having trouble coming up with the names. 'Touch the screen to start' flashed on the bottom screen, so he did that.

A blinding light erupted from his DS, swallowing him whole.

…

He tried to close his eyes, but the brightness seemed to pass through his eyelids and turn his vision a dark pink. It was literally painful, making his head feel like it was going to burst and like it was detached from the rest of his body. After a few seconds, he heard the sound of someone with wet sneakers approaching him. He opened his eyes briefly and saw an outline of the person, but otherwise it was still entirely white.

"Hi, welcome to the world of Pokemon!" a cheerful voice said. "Filled with loads of wonder and mysteries, you're sure to find the adventure of your life if you dare step out to find it. Gosh, I sound like a tour guide." She laughed merrily.

As she spoke, a good deal of the pain and brightness subsided. It was unmistakably that girl, an older teenager with her frizzy brown hair hanging out of the back of her pink and white baseball cap. A patch of a black and white dragon was on the front of that cap. Other than that incongruity, she was dressed mostly with that pink and white scheme, with a short skirt, a simple t-shirt, and matching sneakers. At her side, she even had a matching shoulder bag.

"What?" He put his hand to his forehead, trying to shield his eyes some as the whiteness of their surroundings was too much. "What happened?"

"You do remember what we talked about?" she asked, serious in concern.

"Urgh." He looked down, feeling another flash of pain as he tried to remember it. He noticed a pendant he was wearing, a black and white sphere on an old cord. While he felt it was important, he couldn't think of why that was either.

The girl sighed. "You forgot. We were afraid that would happen. Still, no turning back now. Do you remember anything?"

"I remember meeting you, I think," he said. "And a little bit of our conversations, but it doesn't make much sense. Something about video games and... animals? I don't think I really forgot; it's too painful to think."

She put her hands on her hips. "If what you wrote about happens again, then you should remember when you find the right triggers. I hope that doesn't cause too much trouble." Then she smirked. "Well then, I have a bit of a spiel to get through anyhow, so see if that helps. Ahem. As I was saying, this is a world with mysterious creatures we call Pokemon. My name is Hilda Medley; I'm a Pokemon Trainer, which means I work with a group of Pokemon to make them stronger and happier, so that we're all a tight-knit team that can accomplish anything we set our minds to. Mostly, we've been traveling the lands searching for fun, friendship, and mischief. And this," she pulled out a ball similar what he was wearing around his neck, "is a Pokemon." She pushed a button on the ball and a red light jumped out of it.

In moments, the light turned into a cute creature beside her. It was a fluffy creature that stood up to the girl's waist, covered in thick gray and cream fur. Part of its left ear was bitten out, but it seemed to be an old scar. "Coooruuu!" she called in a happy-sounding voice.

"Careful, she can launch giant meteors." Hilda then laughed.

"It's a game; isn't that kind of the point?" he asked.

"To you, at this time," she said. "But you're gonna have to stop thinking of it as a game, since you're going to be living in it. I think you'll be better off for it. Anyhow... as I said, Pokemon are mysterious creatures; we're constantly learning more about them. They work with us, play with us, sometimes even battle for us. Most of all, they can be some of the best friends you've ever met, as long as you show them love and respect. Now, tell me a little bit about yourself. Are you a boy or a girl?"

This had to be done in person? "Can't you tell?"

"Sor-ry!" she said, entirely too cheerful. "I'm blind in this space."

"By my voice?"

"Deaf too." She put her hands over her ears. "La la la, you gotta say it!"

"Ko?" the Pokemon asked, looking up at her Trainer curiously.

"But then how can you...?"

"Don't bother wondering why," Hilda interrupted, uncovering her ears to wave her hands in a negative sign. "Just answer the question: are you a boy or a girl?"

After a stubborn pause, he replied, "I'm a boy."

"I thought so!" After he groaned, she added, "And what's your name?"

His lips started to move, but the name didn't come immediately to mind. When he tried to think about it directly, it was still painful. Then he considered how he input names in games, with the keyboard on the DS touch screen. Something came to mind with that, maybe not his name but it was a name he used. "Nate."

Hilda tilted her head. "You really are not much of a talker."

He shrugged. "Well this is kind of weird. I'm not sure what to say."

"You'd better get used to the weird, even when I'm not around." Hilda put a finger to her lips. "Listen, Nate... your adventure in this world is about to begin. You're going to have to rely on your wits, your dreams, and your words to get through this. You can do anything you want, but there will be repercussions on everything, good and bad. That's part of getting along in any world. I hope you can find yourself, and learn more about what you want to do with your life. But if you're up to it... I could use your help."

"You don't seem to be in trouble," Nate said, glancing around. But all he could see was white, and Hilda. And now himself, he realized, looking down and seeing his usual blue shorts, checkered shirt, and black shoes.

"Oh, I'm in trouble," she said, less boisterous than before. "Loads of trouble. But I think it's important, and that I can do something about it."

That was important. "What do you need me to do?"

She shook her head. "I can't entirely say, not without alerting others. But remember my name, and find out what happened to me. That should tell you what needs to be done. You can ask my friends Bianca and Cheren for more information." Then she smiled again. "Oh, and tell Cheren that he totally needs to get a good bowler hat to go with his new look, as he looks way too preppy now. He would be so styling with the proper hat."

"Okay, I guess," Nate said, scratching his head. He wasn't sure how that would help. Hopefully it'd make more sense when he got around to finding those people.

"You guess right," she said, all cheerful again. However, her image was fading into the whiteness. "Now more importantly, you should look to make a difference in your adventures. Make sure that people remember you and care about you, by doing awesome things. At the end of it all, you should get the reward of having a say in your ultimate fate. Have fun out there, and remember to always respect your Pokemon." Then she and her Pokemon were completely gone.

In their place, there was a gray distortion in all the white. It shifted like a curtain moving in a breeze. Nate wondered for a moment what she meant by his ultimate fate, but the more immediate issue was that he didn't want to stay in this obnoxiously white place any longer than he had to. With nowhere else to go, he walked through the distortion.

He immediately stumbled and fell on his hands and knees onto a bed. There was an orange and yellow quilt under him; the bright colors seemed momentarily alien. Outside the windows, there was a steady patter of rain. Nate looked up and the first thing he saw was the surprised face of a girl his age. She had large brown eyes and weird looping ponytails.

He didn't get much of a better look at her before she screamed and knocked him unconscious with a punch to the face.

* * *

And so ends the story of the unfortunate Nate, killed before he could even begin his epic quest...

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!"

Nate opened his eyes and winced, having gone from the bright white space, to black unconsciousness, to bright white space again. "What the... what just happened?"

Hilda stood in front of him, hands on her hips and frowning. "That was the most awful ending I have ever seen. That's worse than the Pokestar Studios fails. If you're going to have the heroine kill the hero, it had better happen at the end end. Not the beginning end."

Touching his forehead and wincing, he said, "What could I do about it? She decked me before I could even get my bearings. And I'm not too happy about getting killed so quickly either."

"So that wasn't a suicide attempt to end the story?"

He shook his head. "No. Why, could I have done that?"

"Well... we don't want you dead just yet." Hilda nodded. "All right then. Let's get back into things."

"Before she hit me, so that I can duck?" Nate asked hopefully.

"No," she said with an impish grin. "I have a better idea."


	2. The Black Beginning

December 16

Aspertia City

She blocked his punch, moving so that she absorbed the power of his blow with that. When he tried to grab hold of her to flip her onto the practice mat, she turned the attack around to flip him instead, holding him down by pressing his right arm against his chest. A gong rang out once after a few seconds, so she stayed where she was and looked up.

"Good reversal Rosa, but you've got yourself in a bad position to keep hold of him," their instructor told her, coming onto the mat. "How would you get out of it, Hugh?"

"At her level or mine, dad?" he asked.

"Hugh," he said, warningly. "We're in class."

"Right, right... sensei." Hugh then used his left hand to get a grip on Rosa's arm, although not as quickly as he'd be moving if they were still in a match. "I could push you off balance the way you're crouching there, either to get out of your hold or end up pinning you instead. You were doing a good job blocking, since I was having a hard time getting through."

"Oh!" She blushed a little, embarrassed to think that when she thought she could win, she could have lost before she realized it. "You are stronger than me."

"That doesn't matter," Hugh's father said to her, coming to her side. "You might be smaller than him or other opponents, but you're quick and that can make you as powerful as any. Even so, you have to be smart about it. Keep a more secure poise, as we've been going over."

"Okay, sensei," she said, letting go of Hugh so they could start the sparring over again. At the moment, they were still teaching her defensive and basic techniques. Hugh was well ahead of her, but he was holding back for these lessons. Apparently that was a part of his training too. On the other side of the room, there were a pair of Throh that were locked into a shoving match. A Snivy watched both spars from the sideline, scampering around to get the best view as things changed.

A few minutes later, Hugh's younger sister came into the dojo. "Rosa, your mom called!" she said, keeping a gift bag close. "She said they'll be ready in about half an hour."

"All right!" she said, cheering up immediately.

"Then today's lesson is over," their teacher said. "Go hit the showers and get changed so you're not late to your own party. Have fun, kids!"

They did that, Rosa humming while she was alone in the woman's locker room. Today was her fifteenth birthday, so her mother and a few of her friends were preparing a party at her house. Even though it was no surprise party (there was no chance of that happening), she had still been asked to go to karate lessons with Hugh and his father so that there would be some surprise. It was going to be a lot of fun, she was certain of that!

While there were a few presents she was hoping to get, she'd be happy with anything as long as she got the one she wanted most: her own Pokemon. It couldn't be hard. As her mother worked in the Aspertia Pokecenter, she had connections into adoption agencies and could possibly get all but the most rare easily. A few of her friends had Pokemon already, so she might even get one from them.

That was enough to make her happy. She dried herself off quickly, then changed into a blue party dress and tied her hair up in her favorite style. Since it was chilly outside, she had to put on a coat over that, but she wanted to look nice when she arrived. By the time she got out, Hugh and his sister Violet were already outside waiting on her. She called goodbye to her karate teacher, then ran out and nearly tripped down the stairs. Fortunately she was able to grab the railing and keep from ruining her dress within minutes.

"Careful there," Hugh said, getting a hold of her arm to help her get back on balance. The Snivy was perched on his shoulder now, clinging to his hair to stay on. "I thought we were giving you lessons so that you don't trip up as much."

"Well I don't," she said, giving him a smile. "Just sometimes. Come on, let's go!"

Violet laughed. "They can wait for us."

"Yeah, and it's not raining yet," Hugh said, letting her go. "It's almost nice, if you don't mind a little chill. We can just take a good slow walk over to your home."

"Aw come on," Rosa said, but couldn't keep herself from laughing at his tone.

"Yeah, you know that she'd rather it be raining," Violet added with exaggerated exasperation.

"Because then we could walk with umbrellas and that's the best!" Rosa said, playing along by twirling around.

"Siiirii," the Snivy said, feeling like he should be adding to the conversation.

Hugh smiled at him and patted his Pokemon's head. "I'm sure you'd rather take a walk on a sunny day, Vino."

Rosa brightened. "Oh yeah, I kept meaning to ask you today, but there was other stuff to talk about, but why'd you name your Pokemon for wine?"

"That wasn't what I meant when I nicknamed him," he said, turning a bit pink himself. "I thought it was a cool name but then Mom asked me the same question."

"And me, and Dad, and your teacher, and classmates, and now Rosa," Violet said, teasingly poking him.

"Well it is a cool word, and name I suppose," Rosa said. "Hey, can I call him Vinny? Cause that's cute."

"Ssssih?" The Pokemon cocked his head at her.

"He doesn't need a bunch of nicknames to confuse him," Hugh said. "But Vinny is pretty close, I guess."

"It'd probably get fewer weird looks than Vino," Violet said, then put her hands to her mouth. "Not that I think Vino's a bad name! But, you know, people might take it in the wrong way."

"Vinny's kinda cute, I mean, for a Grass Pokemon," Rosa said. But it was more to be polite about Hugh's new Pokemon. The Grass type was her least favorite kind of Pokemon; she found most of them creepy.

Vinny (or Vino) slipped over to Hugh's other shoulder, giving her a cautious look. Hugh took him off and tried to hold him closer to her. "Rosa's a good person," he said reassuringly. "She's just scary with all her energy."

"When am I scary?" she asked, but then tried to smile for the Pokemon even though she felt tense with it closer. "H-hi. I hope you'll be a good friend to Hugh."

"Not the kind of Pokemon I was expecting from that egg, but I'm sure he can become a strong partner," Hugh said, letting Vino clamber back onto his shoulder.

Still, even the presence of a Grass Pokemon wasn't enough to dampen Rosa's mood for long. She and her friends talked happily on their way back to her home. It looked much the same as usual so far, with the spiral windchime chiming by the door. But there was a group of balloons tied to the mailbox, along with a number of bikes parked on the sidewalk. Inside, they were greeted by a group of their school friends, more balloons, streamer decorations, and some of her favorite music playing.

There was even a person there that she hadn't expected to see. "Dad!" Rosa said, running over to hug him before she even took her coat off. "You really came!"

"I had to come for your fifteenth," he said, hugging her back. "I just couldn't get in until today."

"It's great," she said, getting teary-eyed in her burst of emotions at seeing him again.

There weren't any unexpected Pokemon around, just the ones belonging to her friends. But maybe one was waiting in a Pokeball among the presents. Her father had to excuse himself to get back to unpacking, so she and her friends started to play a game of Trivial Pursuit. However, they ended up chatting more than playing, even if they saw each other most days out of the week.

Later, she got sang to as her mother brought out the birthday cake. It was rich chocolate with the scent of orange, decorated with lovely fluffy frosting. It tasted wonderful, nearly all of them agreed on that. Then they went to the living room so Rosa could open her presents. She decided to open the giftbag from Violet and Hugh first, getting a large white duffel bag out of it. "Oh, is this for traveling?" she asked, checking out the pockets on the ends.

"Yeah, that's one of the best rated bags for traveling around," Hugh said. "It'll put up with any environment and rough use, keeping your stuff safe all the while. It should be helpful."

"Well I can replace my old school bag at least, thanks," she said, smiling at him.

"My present's inside that," Violet said, watching her expectantly.

"I have to open the bag that was in the bag for a present?" Rosa asked as she unfolded the travel bag, getting laughs from her family and friends. Unzipping it revealed a small square present in a Marill print giftwrap. Inside, there was a CD case with the picture of a cute boy with long blond hair. Rosa squealed. "Eee, you got me Christoph's new CD, thank you! Isn't this the one with his duet with Nancy on it?" She looked on the back. And yes, it was that version.

Violet nodded. "Yup. I saved up to buy two copies, but then I was so worried that you'd buy it yourself the day it came out."

"That was just last Tuesday," one of the other girls said.

"But I was really thinking about it," Rosa said.

The rest of her friends got her nice gifts, although not as exciting as the Christoph CD. There was a digital storage device for items, which was practical and good for traveling when combined with the bag. Otherwise, it seemed the rest didn't think that she would leave town, even though she'd been saying for at least a year now that she wanted to be a traveling Trainer and take on the Pokemon League. Still, she thanked them all and was glad there weren't any real duds or white elephants.

Lastly she opened her presents from her parents. The first one turned out to be a cooking kit for camping, including a small pot for use with a campfire. That would be fun, since it meant she could spend some nights out in the wilderness and look for Pokemon that stayed out late. Then, her father gave her a really nice book about oceanic Pokemon that had lots of photographs and articles about them. "I even signed the title page since they used one of my best photos for that spread," he said. Then he laughed sheepishly. "I hope you don't mind that. They used a lot of my work in there and the publishers were the ones who sponsored my last trip."

"That's great!" Rosa said, flipping open to look at it. And indeed, he had signed in a spot where it wouldn't block the beautiful Mantine and Mantykes there: 'To my sweet daughter Rosa: good luck with the Pokemon League! -Nolan Wilburs.' "Nobody will have one like it!"

Then her mom came back into the room, although Rosa hadn't noticed her leaving. She was bringing by something that was rather large to be wrapped or hidden. "And one more thing, but I'm sure it will be quite worth it."

"Oh my gosh, a new bike!" Rosa said, setting the book down quickly so she could get up and look at the bike closer. It had a sturdy metallic blue frame and a large basket on back to carry things. While she had liked her old bike for many years, it was getting small for her to ride now. This one should be fine for years to come. "This is all wonderful, thank you!"

But no matter how great the things were, there was one thing that she hadn't gotten.

By evening, it was raining and most of the guests had left, save for Hugh and Violet. "So you didn't get a Pokemon, huh?" Hugh said, holding onto Vinny carefully. The young Snivy had fallen asleep not that long ago. "Too bad about that; I know you were looking forward to one."

Rosa made herself smile. "Yeah, but I got a lot of other great things that'll be useful when we go out on a journey. I might even be able to convince my dad to help me get a Pokemon if he doesn't take off again soon."

"Yeah, I'm sure you'll get a Pokemon before long," Violet said. She was holding onto the umbrella she was sharing with her brother, which meant she had to hold it a little high for her. "Maybe you can even make friends with one the old-fashioned way."

Hugh nodded. "You could. If it gets down to it, I can catch one for you too. But, not too soon." He rubbed Vinny's head, making him stir but not wake up. "Honestly, it's a bad time for this fellow to hatch, since he won't have much time to build up energy before he gets pushed into hibernating. I won't be able to use him for a few months."

"That's sad," Rosa said. Sure, she didn't like Grass Pokemon, but she knew Hugh had been looking forward to getting him. And, "You're gonna have to watch him carefully then, so that he doesn't get ill."

"Right, I was hoping to ask your mom about that," he said. "But not now, I'm sure she's busy."

She spoke with them a while longer, then gave them hugs before saying good night to them. Then her dad came up with her bike. "Is the shed locked? We can put your bike in there for now, and then we'll head out to eat."

"It shouldn't be," she said, but stepped back inside to grab the shed key from nearby. While she was out at the restaurant with her parents, she managed to stay cheerful and happy. After all, her dad was home and her birthday party had been pretty good.

Later that evening when she was back in her room, she put on her new CD and sat on her bed to flip through the book from her dad. He had such a great job, since he got to be out in the wilderness with many Pokemon and all he had to do was photograph them. This past summer, she had gotten to stay with him for three weeks while he had been diving in a region far to the south from here. The only downside Rosa could see was all the waiting in one spot, but some of the Pokemon didn't like coming out around humans. Even so, she hadn't managed to catch a Pokemon there because they kept breaking the few Pokeballs that she had brought.

"It's not fair," she said quietly as she thought about it. Her dad was a wildlife photographer and her mom was a Pokecenter nurse... but they didn't have any Pokemon at home. There was a reason for that. She and her mom had let go of their Pokemon a couple years back, thinking they'd be happier that way. It had been a big deal back then, with a group called Team Plasma explaining that keeping Pokemon captive was cruelty. While they had believed it, they also worried about Janice being forced to get a new job.

But then it turned out that Team Plasma was a cover for something more villainous and it had all been for nothing. Even so, her mom seemed hesitant to get another Pokemon. Maybe if they could get one of their old Pokemon back... but that might be hard, since they had released them in Nimbasa and moved to Aspertia shortly after.

Rosa sighed and dropped back onto her bed, wondering how much longer she'd have to wait to get a Pokemon... maybe she should just buy more Pokeballs and try again. But her attention immediately went to the wall where a poster of Wallace was hanging. For some strange reason, the wall was rippling, like a curtain being blown in a light breeze. She sat back up and turned around, confirming that she wasn't just imagining things. What was going on?

Was it a Pokemon causing mischief? They could do a lot of things that scientists still couldn't explain. A smile crept onto her face as she realized she might get a Pokemon for her birthday after all, if she could lure it out and make friends with it. Maybe it would like some cake? Rosa started to reach for the wall, but then the rippling intensified. She pulled her hand back as a strange boy suddenly fell out of the wall and landed on her bed.

They stared at each other for a moment. He seemed pale like he didn't get out in the sun often, and his dark brown hair was ragged and in need of a good trim. At his side, he had a shoulder bag; around his neck, he wore a long necklace with a Pokeball-like pendant.

Wait, what was he doing here, in her room?

"AAAAAAAAHHHH!" she shrieked, punching the boy in the face and knocking him off the bed.

"Rosa?!" her Mom shouted in concern, running to her room. "What's going on?" When she got to the doorway, she looked at her daughter, then down at the floor where she was looking. The boy wasn't moving.

"Oh my gosh, I killed him," Rosa said, eyes wide and hands trembling.

* * *

"No, I'm serious about it," Rosa insisted, her vision blurry as she was crying. Her parents were sitting with her while the police investigated her room. "The wall went weird and then he fell out of it, and I got scared so I hit him. But I didn't mean to kill anybody!"

"Don't worry, he's not dead," the police officer in the living room with them said. "But who is he?"

"I don't know," Rosa said, knowing she was repeating herself. But it was the truth. "I've never seen him before."

"I don't know who he is either," her mom said. "But he does have a rather distinct necklace on him. Maybe that will tell us where he's from at least."

"Possibly. What about you?"

Her father shrugged. "I'm not around most of the year so I don't know the local kids well. I don't know him either."

"Sir?" One of the other officers appeared from the hall that led to the bedrooms. "Could you come take a look at something? We're not sure what it means."

"All right." He got up, then told them, "It would seem to be an accident, but we'll keep looking into it. Sorry for any inconvenience we might cause." Then he went back down the hall to see what they had found.

Rosa rubbed her eyes. "I hope he is okay." The medics had left with him not that long ago.

Her mom touched her arm. "Dear, were you trying to hide a boyfriend from us?"

"Huh?" Then she blushed and shook her head. "No, not that! I've never seen him before, honest."

"All right. I'll trust you on that. I hope they don't make too much more of a mess."

"At least we know you can defend yourself against troublemakers," her dad said, smiling and trying to lighten the mood.

A few minutes later, the officers came back into the living room; an elegant black and white Pokemon was following after them. "From what we're seeing, it seems that her story is correct," the lead officer said. "Our Gothitelle pointed out signs of spacial disturbance in her room. We need to bring in some better equipment to make sure it gets closed up properly. From that, the easiest guess is that it was a failed teleport. You'll need to find another place to stay for the night, maybe longer if it turns out to be unsafe."

Rosa's mom nodded. "I see. I'm sure we can find someone to take us in. Can we get a few things first?"

"Yes, go ahead."

* * *

Nate found himself dressed in a pale green hospital gown with a bandage wrapped around his head and over one eye. Standing close to him with a clipboard in hand, the doctor looked over him. "Then what you're saying is, you came here by getting sucked into a video game, but then you don't remember anything else about where you came from?"

"I don't remember much," Nate said calmly. "The sky was dark, but there were bright colored lights all around. A riot had broken out while I was getting groceries earlier. The whole place was a real wreck, but I can only see images of it, not much I can really put into words. When I started that new game, it got all weird and then I was talking to some girl in a bright white room. Then I got dropped onto a bed, and it all goes black after a scream." He touched his bandage. "That seems to be when she punched me. Not the girl from the white room, another one."

The doctor looked at his clipboard, giving a soft sigh. "Well... we'll get your amnesia checked out, and have you talk to a psychiatrist. But it seems like you were involved in some teleportation accident, likely when you were playing your games and that's what has your mind mixed up."

He shifted his head, looking at the doctor. "That would be a possibility to you. But this place is more sane than where I came from. You have a functioning hospital."

"That is good," the doctor said, as if he wasn't sure what else to say to that. "Just relax for now. I'll get a psychiatrist assigned to you as soon as possible."

He nodded. So they thought he was crazy or confused after an accident with teleporting. It was reasonable, at least more reasonable than the fragments left in his mind. Still, he felt certain that he was now inside the world of the video game he had started. This didn't seem to be like any game that he could think of... remember. But then, maybe this was really another world.

And the words of that girl Hilda stuck in his mind. He had to do something awesome to have some say in his ultimate fate. It was a pity that he couldn't remember much, because then he might remember if she told him something specific to do. As for what he had... he looked by his side and saw his old bag. Opening it up, he didn't find anything inside. Not even his DS, which was disappointing. But maybe not surprising, since he had entered a video game in it.

There was the necklace he had been wearing; it was next to his bag. It looked like that item Hilda had used to call on her animal companion. Did he have one of them, the, uh? The word escaped him. With that unclear, he tried to think of what she did with it. There was a button on one part of his necklace pendant, right on the horizontal split between the black and the white. When he pressed it, the bottom half detached, revealing a PIN drive inside.

Seeing that, he remembered Hilda mentioning something about his journal. There wasn't a computer in the room, so he pushed the nurse call button and sat on the hospital bed. His head still felt tender and burnt out, making it uncomfortable to be standing for long. In a couple of minutes, a male nurse came in. "What would you like, Nate?"

"I think my necklace has my journal on it," he said, showing the white half of it in his hand. "But I need something to read it."

He nodded, understanding quickly. "In that case, I can get a tablet for you. But you shouldn't be up for long."

"I'll try not to be," he said, then had to wait while the nurse requested the tablet computer sent to his room.

The nurse had insisted on staying in the room with him while he looked into it. Nate decided to tolerate his presence, since they were concerned for his health. Probably even curious as to who he was. Fortunately, the tablet was able to read the pin drive and access the files there.

Unfortunately, all of them were password protected. Examining the necklace further showed no obvious hints about the password. "Huh, it's a surprise that there wasn't an unlocked file with a hint to the password," the nurse said.

"If I was paranoid enough to password lock everything, doing that would defeat the purpose," Nate said. He tried a few times to put in some kind of password, but it only made his head hurt trying to recall it. He checked on one file titled 'Records' and an interesting window popped up. Where all of the others had only the password entry field, this one stated, 'A collection of observations and history to be read first after an amnesia event.' After he read it to the nurse, he added, "But even that one is locked behind a password I don't remember."

"You had a file to be read in case of amnesia?" the nurse asked, puzzled.

"Not in case of," he said. "It's worded as if that is a certainty. The only other things I had were my clothes and bag. I should have had some clue somewhere."

He nodded. "I'll call the laundry room and ask them to search your things thoroughly. Hopefully they haven't gone in for washing yet. But you'll probably think clearer if you rest well."

And then he could recall these passwords. The 'Records' at least had to have something simple if it was meant to help in a situation like this. "Very well. Thank you for your assistance."

Even if he set himself to resting, he couldn't help but wonder what was really going on. The passwords, Hilda, moving to another world through a video game, hints of reoccurring amnesia... why him?


	3. The Mysterious Amensiac Boy

January 2

Aspertia City

'philosopher'

'Access denied.'

'knowledge'

'Access denied.'

'stoic'

'Access denied.'

'asceticism'

'Access denied.'

Lowering his eyes from the screen for a moment, Nate felt at a loss. True, he was randomly throwing words at the password screen as he thought of ones that felt right. He had hoped one of them would work, or he'd stumble across a hint. But his PIN drive journal wasn't taking any of it. Maybe it was a string of numbers and letters instead of a word. He'd already tried putting some in at random, so it could be time to try that again.

"Mr. Nate?" someone called. "I'm ready for you."

He looked up and saw the barber waiting on him. Nodding, he set the tablet he was borrowing on sleep mode to put in his bag. "All right."

After getting his hair washed, the barber asked, "How do you like yours cut?"

Nate looked in the mirror and noticed how long his hair had gotten. He hadn't really noticed, but the bangs were down near his chin and the back was uneven past his shoulderblades. "I don't know," he said. "It's been a while since I last had the chance to get a haircut, I think. What's common around here?"

"Well, most boys your age would get it cut short and styled in a spiky manner, or held back in a short ponytail with bangs. Do you wear hats?"

"I don't know," he said, getting a puzzled look from the barber. "I guess I would end up getting one. The sun was really bright today."

After some talk, they agreed on the ponytail style for him, since it would work with or without a hat. The barber tried to chat with him, but he had to admit that his mind was scrambled up after an accident to explain why he couldn't answer some questions. At that, the man in the chair next to him asked, "Excuse me, but are you Nate? The boy who showed up in mid-December?"

"That's me," he said. "What about it?"

"My house was the one you dropped into," he said. "I'm Nolan Wilburs."

Nate glanced over, trying to see the man without turning his head and messing up the barber too much. "I see. I'm sorry about that, Mr. Wilburs; I had no idea where I was going to end up."

"If that's so, then it's no issue," he said. "But I do hope that you weren't trying to make any moves on my daughter."

"That's certainly not it," Nate said. "Besides, who'd try to go after a girl by teleporting into her room? That seems much too forward."

"Well," Nolan said, getting a laugh from the barbers. "It does happen. Although when I did it, I knew more about Janice and it was just to surprise her with flowers."

"I've known a guy or two who's tried to peek in on a girl from a tree and accidentally got their Pokemon to teleport them in," the barber working on Nate said. "Although how accidentally was accidentally is up for debate."

"That seems disrespectful," Nate said.

"Good to know that I really don't have to worry about you then," Nolan said. "Rosa would like to apologize to you some time. Are you going to be attending school here?"

"It's not certain at this point," he said. "The hospital would release me, but without a place for me to stay, they're letting me stay in the guest rooms until it's decided. They do want me to go to the school building tomorrow for testing."

"That's right, school starts back up tomorrow," the barber working on him said. "The public school here is really good, one of the best in the region."

"Do you know where it is?" Nolan said. "Rosa could walk you over there in the morning when she goes to school, if that's how things work out for you."

He considered it. Rosa must have been the girl he ended up next to when he arrived. While she had punched him, it might have spooked her to have him show up without warning. It'd be good to let her know there was nothing untoward meant about their meeting. "I think one of the nurses was going to accompany me, but that could work. Have her call the hospital about that; tell them it's for Nate and they should know it's me."

"Will do," he said, waving a hand to acknowledge it.

People were nice here, he thought. For a moment, he closed his eyes and listened to the sounds of the scissors working on his hair, with the chunks falling off onto his shoulders and lap. It was strange, but those small actions felt more real than his life previously. Wasn't this supposed to be the fictional world, though? Maybe it just felt more real because it was the present and his memories were difficult to grasp. Whatever was going on, he'd have to get to the truth of this eventually.

* * *

January 3

Rosa skipped along the road, holding her yellow umbrella high even though that let the wet flakes of snow fly into her ponytails. That didn't matter; she was in a great mood this morning. Even the start of her school's second semester couldn't disappoint her. If she was lucky, she might make a new friend today! That is, provided he didn't hate her.

On checking in with the hospital, she found out that the boy who appeared mysteriously in her room was called Nate. He had gotten a bump on his head from hitting the floor and a black eye from her punch, but apparently none of it was serious. What was serious was that the teleport accident had inflicted amnesia on him and scrambled up his thoughts. It seemed like an awful thing to happen; she wondered where he had teleported from. The psychiatrist felt that he wasn't a violent or unstable person, so he was to attend school for a while to see if that would clear his mind. Since he wasn't from around Aspertia, someone had to show him the way, and the doctor had let her do so! Rosa had a feeling that this would be a significant and wonderful day.

She shook her umbrella at the hospital entrance, then closed it up and walked inside. "Good morning!" she said to the receptionist, smiling brightly. "I'm here to take Nate to school."

"Good morning," the receptionist said, smiling back. "All right, I'll send someone to bring him out. It'll be just a minute."

"Okay. Mind if I wait outside?" The snow was so lovely that she didn't want to miss a minute of it. At least, a minute that came before school started.

"Go right ahead, I'll let him know."

Back outside, Rosa passed some moments lightly kicking the snow around and trying to catch the flakes on her gloved fingertips. She couldn't imagine why some people would complain about snow. Sure, it was cold and piled up unlike rain, but it was so pretty. While she was out there, she saw other students walking along the street towards school.

Including a pair that she couldn't resist calling out to. "Hey, Hugh, Violet! Good morning!"

"Good morning, Rosa!" the younger girl called back, smiling and waving her hand.

The older boy gave a military kind of greeting, tapping his forehead. "Morning. Waiting on your boyfriend?"

Rosa frowned and shook a fist at him. "He's not my boyfriend. But I am taking Nate to school today."

Not able to resist teasing her, Hugh came into the hospital drive and stopped. "Aw come on, Rosa. You never sneak me into your room."

"It was a teleport accident," Rosa said. "I never saw him before that."

He rubbed his chin. "Then again, you never did punch me unconscious. Maybe it's good that I haven't dated you."

She shook her umbrella at him, making Violet giggle. So Rosa smiled again. "Whatever. But he's not my boyfriend."

"Are you going to make him your boyfriend?" Violet asked. "Is he cute?"

"Well he might have been a little cute," Rosa said. "But that doesn't mean anything. How's your Pokemon doing?" That was a good subject to change to; Hugh liked to talk about the Snivy he had gotten recently, hatched from an egg even.

He still caught onto her trick. "Now you can't evade me forever. And Vino's still a healthy green, so he's been good. Still, I've got plans for when spring comes about. We're going to set out on our epic quest then."

"At least you know when you'll be starting," she said. "Too bad about Vinny's hibernating, but my mom would say it's best to leave them be."

"Right," Hugh said. "I've still got to do some research and preparation, so this winter's devoted to study."

"For once," Violet said.

"Ah come on, my grades are decent." He tousled his sister's pompom hat, making her giggle.

Then the hospital doors opened up. Nate came out alone, carrying an old travel bag under one arm and wearing the hood of his new navy blue coat up; he was wearing that odd Pokeball necklace too, colored black and white and unlike any Pokeball she had seen before. Looking down at first, he wore a very serious expression. But he did smile kindly when he looked up to them. "You must be Rosa. I'm Nate."

She smiled and waved him to come closer. "Yeah, good morning! Nice to meet you, Nate. Oh, and these are some friends of mine, Hugh and Violet. Come on, we should get to school a little early so you can look around."

"Hello," he said to the other two, then walked quietly by them as they went down the street.

"Have you been to Aspertia before?" Violet asked.

"I don't think so," Nate said, looking down again.

"Where did you come from?" the younger girl asked.

He shrugged. "Not sure."

"He's lost a lot of his memory," Rosa explained. "That's why he's coming to school now, to see if he can remember things better."

"Sheesh, I didn't know you could hit a guy that hard," Hugh said teasingly.

"Hey!" Rosa shoved him aside, laughing. "You want me to get serious in our next match?"

"I do know it's much nicer here," Nate said.

After getting his balance back, and shoving Rosa aside in exchange, Hugh said, "How can you know that if you don't remember? And you've been in the hospital since you got here."

"I know that much," he said. "Where I came from was... a nightmare that I can't comprehend." He shifted his bag. "Sorry, I hope I'm not too depressing. I knew it would be hard to adjust; I just wished I remembered more about what I was supposed to do here."

"I can try helping you remember," Rosa said.

Hugh rolled his eyes. "Rosa, Rosa, Rosa... half the time you forget what you're supposed to be doing."

"I'm not that bad!" she squealed, shifting her umbrella rapidly and sending melting snowflakes over them. "Just, sometimes. Oh, and sorry about hitting you. I didn't know what you were doing there and panicked."

"That's fine," Nate said. "I'm sorry for surprising you like that. Then again, I didn't have control over where I ended up."

"It's all good," Rosa said, smiling and offering a hand. "So we can be friends?"

He looked at her for a moment, then smiled and shook hands with her. "Sure, friends."

* * *

For the first part of the school day, the school officials had taken Nate aside and tested him on general knowledge. But at noon, he had been allowed to join Rosa's class for lunch and homeroom time. He spent the first part of that free time looking over one of the classroom books, a travel guide to the Unova region.

One of the other girls nudged Rosa, who was working on an assignment. "Hey, is that your new boyfriend?" she asked, pointing to him.

"He's not my boyfriend," she whispered.

"Yeah, aren't you going out with Hugh?" another asked.

She shook her head. "I'm not dating anybody, sheesh. He's the guy nobody knows where he came from; Nate doesn't even know that."

"Well you spend a lot of time with Hugh."

"Violet too," Rosa corrected. She'd started out as friends with Violet when she first moved to Aspertia, but Hugh turned out to be a cool guy who didn't mind his little sister and her friend hanging out with him. They were all friends before long.

Nate then put the book away and came back over to her desk. "The books say that you should travel with a Pokemon," he said.

"Well of course," she said. "They're good company and protection."

His brow furrowed. "But what exactly are Pokemon? I didn't think they were real."

"Whoa, where did you come from if you thought Pokemon weren't real?" one of the other girls asked in disbelief.

"Well they're..." Rosa thought about it, but it was strange to her too. Pokemon were numerous and lots of people kept them, so she never thought about how they'd be to someone that didn't see them every day.

"You've got to be joking," the other girl said.

"I have nothing to joke about," Nate said, sounding and looking as serious as he'd been when they met up this morning.

It seemed like he really didn't know. In that case, maybe they ought to ask someone smarter? Maybe a teacher, but her homeroom teacher looked busy grading papers. "Oh, I know someone who can explain better," Rosa said, getting up. "And I think I know where to find him. Come on." She went up to the teacher's desk to ask for a hall pass for the two of them.

Once they were out in the halls, Nate asked, "Who are we seeing?"

"Cheren, he's one of the guys who's taking the university level courses here," she explained. "This is also a Trainer's School and while most of us just take basic courses to get our licenses, he has studied a lot about Pokemon and related things. He's really smart, and was even considered a contender for becoming the Pokemon League Champion. Of course, he was going against some of the best Champions ever, so even he had trouble. He's nice once you get to know him, and he's pretty cute too," she brushed some stray hairs aside, although more to hide her smile.

"Do you like him?" Nate asked.

"Well, um..." did she really want to say something to Nate? She hadn't known him all that long. But looking at him, she had a feeling that she could trust him. "I guess I've had a crush on him for a while," she said quietly. "But, um! Don't tell him, I don't think he'd really be interested in a girl like me. But that's not the point. I'm sure he could help you."

"I'll give anything a try, at this point. Cheren..." he thought quietly for a moment as they climbed up the stairs. "His name sounds familiar."

"Oh? Maybe he'll recognize you." She started peering into potential places, although she figured the study hall here was the most likely place.

As she'd thought, he was there. Cheren had straight black hair that he kept short, in a neat trim at all times. Recently he'd switched to contact lenses instead of glasses, which Rosa thought was a better look for him. And even though the Aspertia school was informal, he always attended his classes looking like he had a school uniform on, with a dark blue jacket, a neat white buttoned-up shirt with an even collar, dark blue slacks, a tie, and clean black shoes. At the moment, he had his pencil near his lips as he read a large book, his notebook open to the side for copying important facts. She wasn't sure what it was about him, but she thought he pulled off that serious preppy look to be really attractive.

Not that she could bring herself to tell him that. Taking a deep breath and trying not to look giddy, Rosa went to the door of the study room. It was just him and a Liepard, so she knocked on the door. "Cheren? May we get some help from you?"

At first, he just turned up his eyes to see who it was. Then he set his pencil aside and smiled at them, straightening his posture. "Of course, Rosa. What is it?"

She could have melted at that look, but no, she had to keep cool. She came in, followed by her new friend. "This is Nate; did you hear about him? He got into an accidental teleport and ended up here with amnesia. He was asking me what Pokemon were because he doesn't seem to know, but I thought you could help more."

"Really?" he asked, curious. It must not have occurred to him either that someone might not know about Pokemon.

Thankfully, Nate didn't seem too embarrassed about it. "I know I need to go see some places around Unova," he said. "And the books I've looked in say you should have a Pokemon to travel. It's complicated, though. I kind of know about it, but my mind goes fuzzy when I try to think on them. They're animals, right?"

"Well," he looked at the Liepard, who twitched his ears up at the look. "They are, and they're not. Here, this is Shadeclaw, one of my Pokemon. He's a Liepard. Pokemon are like advanced animals."

"Then they're more like humans?" Nate asked, looking at the Liepard, apparently not sure what to do about him. Shadeclaw decided to come up closer and check Nate out, sniffing his hand.

Cheren rubbed his nose. "Yes, and no. It depends, really. Some of them appear to have minds as developed as humans, others not nearly as much, but they often have self-awareness, awareness of others, and emotions of varying complexity. One of the things separates Pokemon from animals, and Pokemon from humans, is the ability to manipulate a special form of energy that most of us humans can't even sense. But some can, and... well, that's getting into more complicated things. Pokemon have a great variety of powers and abilities which can't be mimicked by humans in their natural state. Humans tend to have more flexible minds, able to think about ethics, the future, history, and other higher forms of knowledge."

"What kind of energy do they use?" Nate asked.

After taking a deep breath, he said, "This could take a while to explain, I see. Are you attending school here for now?"

He shrugged. "I guess. They've been testing me and I need to get back to that at one-thirty."

"I've got free time to then," Cheren said, putting a book mark in the large book and setting it aside. "Rosa, why don't you go back to your homeroom and make sure whoever's working with him knows he's up here? I can take him back to the testing area at one-thirty."

She felt disappointed to leave so soon, but it made sense and with Cheren explaining things, there wasn't a lot she could contribute. "Okay, I'll do that. See you later, Nate."

* * *

Nate watched Rosa leave, then sat down at the table with Cheren. "I don't mean to trouble you." Shadeclaw nudged his hand, so he tried petting the Liepard's head. He could think of these creatures as being the basis of many games, but there they weren't anything more than digital data. Here in the presence of one, he couldn't deny that this was a real flesh and blood creature in front of him. The Liepard's breath was warm against his skin as Shadeclaw curiously checked him over.

The older boy shook his head. "It's no trouble. Actually, it's interesting, a problem I wouldn't have thought of. You mean to travel in Unova?"

"Yes," he said. "There's something I must do and some places I want to see. I hope I'm not being rude, but do you know me?"

"I'm afraid not," he said. Then he nudged the Liepard. "Oh, be careful if you have anything loose on you. Shadeclaw is a pickpocket, but that's normal for his kind."

He nodded, glancing down. He didn't think he had anything interesting to steal aside from his necklace, but who knew what this creature would think interesting. "It's fine. Actually, I recognize your name from somewhere. It was that girl, Hilda. She talked about you as her friend."

At that, Cheren's mood completely changed. Concern showed in his eyes; this was no longer about an interesting puzzle. Mentioning Hilda made it personal. "Hilda? What did she say?"

"It was..." he searched his memories. Thankfully, that one was one of the clearer ones. "She said that your new look is nice, but you really need to get a hat, preferably a bowler."

At first, he just slapped his forehead. But then a reminiscing smile appeared on his face. "Yeah, that sounds like her. When did you meet her? And how do you know her, if you can't remember anything?"

"It's not that I don't remember anything," Nate said. "It's that my thoughts are disjointed and what I do remember isn't easy to understand. I know it, but I can't put it into words easily without being confusing. Hilda was the one who sent me here, I'm pretty sure. She wanted me to help her but," he looked up, trying to think, "I don't really know what I'm supposed to help her with. She said that she might be in trouble, but she seemed so energetic. The only thing that's really clear was that she said I needed to do something great to get people to like me."

Cheren sighed, now troubled. "If she says she thinks she's in trouble, then she most likely is. She's reluctant to admit that."

"What happened to her?" he asked, now rubbing under the Liepard's chin. Shadeclaw seemed happy with the attention and rumbled in a purr.

He picked up his pencil again and started tapping it. "She disappeared last year, some time in late spring or early summer. We don't know why, or how, or even where. After Iris took her position as League Champion, she was wandering around Unova aimlessly. We never knew where she'd be and we didn't realize she was gone until a number of us noticed that we hadn't heard from her. Nothing was really found, although it's very likely that we missed something. What do you know of her?"

"I saw some things that if I found those places, I think I can settle them in my mind better." Because when he tried to recall those images now, he got them along with dozens of others and he couldn't be sure which ones were were relevant. There were buildings he couldn't identify, wooded areas that could be anywhere, people that he couldn't name. The connections weren't there, but he hoped that seeing them in person...

"Hey, Nate," Cheren said, waving a hand in the air.

He blinked. "Hmm? Sorry, did you say something?" He rubbed his forehead. "I was thinking."

"I thought so. I appreciate any help in trying to find her; she's one of my oldest friends." Cheren pointed his pencil to him. "But the books are right. If you're going to be looking around for someone, or even just exploring the region, you need to know about Pokemon. I'll do what I can to help."

* * *

The sun was setting and most young people would be heading out with friends or going on dates. Instead of that, Cheren was in his usual place, in his small apartment in Aspertia in front of his computer working on a project. But it wasn't a class assignment this time. He was putting together his thoughts on how to instruct Nate. He started with the title and a short intro.

'Speaking to an Alien about Pokemon'

'This essay is part hypothesis: if someone or some being completely alien to our world comes down to ask about things, what would one say about Pokemon to appropriately portray them, including what role they play in society and what they are. It is also part case study, in assisting a young man who has a brain injury that has messed up his memory and his knowledge. In general tests, he has shown a good intelligence, but seems to recall very little about Pokemon.'

He paused. The tests hadn't yet been graded, but the school official had said that he seemed to be above average for his age group when he didn't have to hesitate to answer. A few questions to the psychiatrist had gotten a similar assessment, but Cheren added a note to interview the two of them in more depth at a later date, when they had a better view on how Nate ranked compared to his peers.

Now for the tough part: how to make this simple enough for a patient possibly in a worse state than Nate to understand, but still cover enough of the basics to give a well-rounded picture.

'Pokemon are mysterious creatures that share the world with us. They live with us, work with us, play with us, sometimes even battle with us. They come in many forms, varieties, personalities, and intelligences, each one a unique individual that is one of a larger species, of which there are many types and kinds. Most of all, they are our friends and partners. In many ways, Pokemon and humans work hand in hand to achieve great things together.'

Reading over it, Cheren felt he needed to break it down further. Each of those sentences could use more explanation, as well as examples. Not only that, but events in recent years might call out the last two sentences as an example of personal bias. It was something he wanted to impress on Nate, so that he got along with Pokemon easier when he started traveling with them. For an essay, he would need to be careful with it. Keep them, probably, but state the obvious that they were opinions.

If he actually made an essay about it. He'd only started off the intro with 'this essay' due to some recent lectures and reading assignments. But it was an interesting question. Maybe a better writer would pick up on it and re-imagine it. Even if not, it could be useful for his portfolio of work later on.

He kept typing things up, just putting down ideas and leaving organizing them for later, until his Emboar Smoky nudged him on the shoulder to ask about taking a walk outside.


	4. Times are Changing

January 30

Aspertia City, Route 19

Over the next month, Nate attended school and the hospital monitored his progress. His physical injuries had healed up and he showed no signs of being troublesome. However, his memory issues were persisting, improving inconsistently. He took the math tests and had some trouble with algebra and fractions. After sitting in on some math classes and listening to a tutor, he could grasp it again and aced the test he'd failed a week prior. "It won't make sense, and then it all clicks into place," he had explained once. "A little painfully, but that passes."

In hopes that Pokemon knowledge clicked back into place for him, Cheren kept meeting with him during his free periods, discussing about general and specific topics. On this particular day, Hugh and Rosa tagged along as he brought Nate out to Route 19 to talk about wild Pokemon.

He sipped at the coffee in his travel mug, then pointed out the tall grass. "See that area? Wild Pokemon like to hide in tall grasses. The ones that are in places like this will be ones who are most likely looking for a friend among humans. Pokemon that would rather not be with us will steer clear of well-traveled routes like these, keeping to deeper areas of wilderness. For that reason, there's a number of laws to keep a certain percentage of wilderness intact for their use."

"That seems reasonable," Nate said. "What about the pond?"

Cheren nodded. "There will be Pokemon in the pond too, mostly Water types but there are a few others that will live in or around water. They can be fished out or encountered while swimming."

"Does fishing for them work well?" Hugh asked, keeping his hands tucked into his pocket to avoid the chill.

He shrugged. "It works for others, but I've never fished myself. There's some Trainers that will only use Pokemon they fished for. But for discussion purposes, the tall grass is enough. Now..." he paused on seeing the scene in front of him. "Rosa, what are you doing?"

In simple terms, she was crouched down a couple of feet from the tall grass. At the very edge of that patch, a Patrat seemed to be standing guard, its puffy tail straight in the air and its paw above its brow as it stood in place and watched all around for trouble. Rosa had her hand over her brow and was looking around too in a mimicry of its actions. Probably a better question was why.

"I'm getting to know the Pokemon," she said. "Seems like if you want to understand Pokemon, it would help if you could see the world like they do. So I'm seeing what he must be seeing, figuring out what he might be thinking."

"It might help," Cheren said, then took a sip of his coffee. "But it can take years to understand a particular kind of Pokemon, and there are hundreds of known varieties recorded in the Pokedex project. Estimates say there might be closer to a million different species out there."

"Wow, I wonder if they've all been seen." She got up and left the Patrat to continue its sentry duty. "And how much coffee have you had this morning? That cup seems to be attached to your hand."

"I'm a college student; I need my caffeine," he joked in a mock grouchy voice. Then he spoke normally again. "And finals are coming up. I was up late last night working on projects. But one of those projects does require a freshly caught Pokemon, and I thought this would be a good thing for any of you to know about. Have either of you caught a Pokemon yourself?"

"No," Rosa said, sounding unusually dispirited about it. From what Cheren knew about her, her family had been like many others, caught in the hype from Team Plasma two or three years back. Some people were still uncertain about keeping Pokemon around and Pokeball sales in Unova were notably lower than in other regions.

"I've tried, but it's hard when you don't already have a Pokemon," Hugh said. "And mine's been unavailable."

He nodded, then set his travel mug on the ground. "As I thought. Now, all kids are warned to keep out of tall grass if you don't have Pokemon or an adult with you. As I said, Pokemon in this kind of area are looking for potential companionship and they often test you out with battles. I know it may seem counter-intuitive, but for most Pokemon, they will assess a potential Trainer in a battle and accept a capture if impressed."

Rosa looked to Nate and added, "And you don't have to worry if they get hurt. Most battles are not serious and don't lead to serious injuries. Plus, the Pokecenters will heal any Pokemon you bring in for free."

Nate nodded, looking into the grassy area. "I see. It makes sense to me. Rosa punched the daylights out of me when we met, and we're friends now."

"I didn't mean to!" she said in an embarrassed squeal. "But thanks... I think."

Cheren chuckled. "Something like that? Now I have some Pokemon with me. My main team is rather more powerful than needed to capture new Pokemon, but I do have one with levels more in line with this area, better for capturing new ones with. This place is fairly easy to access, and so the Pokemon tend to be low leveled. That's a general rule of thumb; the further away from a town a location is, the stronger Pokemon tend to be. But that's not always so, and some Pokemon like to be of a certain strength before finding a human partner. What you do is walk through the grass for a little while until one comes to you. This one is already here." He stepped closer to the Patrat, which twitched its tail. "Patrat, I'm looking for a Pokemon to work with over the next month. Would you like to help?"

"Chi," the Patrat said, then bolted into the grass.

Behind him, Hugh chuckled. Cheren shrugged. "It happens. Probably didn't like the temporary part of it. You don't have to ask the Pokemon, but I find it to be more polite to state your intentions."

"That's an odd opinion," Hugh said as Cheren walked a few steps into the grass.

"I think it's a good one," Nate said.

"It was something I learned..." a purple head popped out of the grass as a Purrloin stood on its hind legs to look at him. Cheren waved it away. "I'm sorry, Purrloin, but my research is specific. I still appreciate the offer." Once it ducked down and went away, he added, "I got the idea from one of my friends. She did it with all of her Pokemon and while she didn't have many, she was really close with them all." Then another Patrat tail came running towards him, followed by it breaking out of the edge of the grass. "Will you help me out for a month, Patrat?"

The Patrat puffed his furry cheeks out, then ran at him. It dashed back before it collided with him, but he still backed up. Then, the Patrat braced itself.

"And that's why you don't walk in tall grass without your own Pokemon," Cheren said, taking one of his Pokeballs out of the holder. "Some of them would not have stopped. Charles, you're up." He released a Lillipup, who yapped and hopped in place. "First thing to do is weaken it. Charles, use Tackle on him."

The brown canine bounded away and collided with the Patrat, then darted back to a position a few feet in front of Cheren. The Patrat's eyes glinted as it used Leer. At the same time, it was observing Cheren and the Lillipup Charles. Cheren looked down at his Pokemon, wondering once again what kind of exchange was going on between the two in a situation like this. But understanding Pokemon like that wasn't something he could do.

"I think we'll go with that," he said, pulling an empty Pokeball from his bag. "Now to activate the new Pokeball and toss it at the target." He pressed the button and threw it at the Patrat. A red light emerged from the device, absorbing the Pokemon into it. For a few seconds, the Pokeball quivered and rolled along the ground. Then there was an audible click as the Pokeball locked onto its new inhabitant. "And that's basically it. A Pokemon can choose to break free; some are mischievous and will break a lot of Pokeballs before consenting to a capture. Then once you touch the ball, the Pokemon is automatically registered to you." He went over and picked up the Pokeball with his new Patrat.

"And you can keep six of them like that?" Nate asked. "Why six?"

"Basic answer to that is it's in the rules of nearly every Pokemon organization in existence," Cheren explained, setting the new Pokeball in an empty slot of the holder. "All of the equipment made, like this holder, assumes a standard maximum team size of six. There's some interesting history behind how that became the common ruling, but that's worthy of a lengthy discussion by itself. You can catch more than six, but it becomes unwieldy to handle and you end up using virtual storage or large enclosed lots to keep your extras."

"And how does someone go about getting a Pokemon if they have none?" he next asked.

"There's a lot of ways, but most often it's a gift from a family member or an older friend," Hugh said. "You can also adopt Pokemon, or take care of their eggs."

Cheren nodded. "And it is possible to talk a Pokemon into joining you without a battle, or to surprise them by just throwing a Pokeball. Some are that friendly. I got my first Pokemon as a gift from a professor who researches Pokemon, as thanks for helping her out on her work. It really depends on what works out best."

Hugh then nudged Nate. "Hey, I wouldn't worry about it. I know you mean to travel around Unova, but so do I. We could travel together if you like, and I could even help you catch one with mine. But, he's not going to be ready to go until spring anyhow."

"I'm going too!" Rosa said, clasping her hands together and giving him a sad eyed look.

"Of course," Hugh said, nodding. "We can all set out together."

Nate nodded. "Sounds good. I hardly know anybody, but it'd be better to leave with a few that I do know."

Watching that reminded Cheren of when he had been planning to leave with his two best friends. While it did bring up a knot in his throat as he had no clue where one of them was, it still made him smile. "That sounds like a great plan," he told them. "I think you three could do well together."

* * *

Cheren slumped back in his chair, looking at the screen of the Xtransciever. There were three screens active: one for himself, one for Bianca, and one for Aurea Juniper, the professor he had worked with when he started out. "I know this semester isn't nearly as intense as the last one, but I feel like I've hardly gotten a winter vacation this year. Give me a break."

"Maybe you need to give yourself a break," Bianca said kindly. "I was glad to hear that you didn't take as many course hours this semester; maybe I could actually come out and visit with you some time."

"One of the classes is becoming a tough one," he said.

"I'm sure you'll make it through," Juniper said. "You've been doing so well that I don't think one tough class is going to make you falter."

"Thanks," he said. The support was nice, although he still felt tired. Maybe an early night?

The professor brightened. "Oh, and I read that essay you published, the one about how to talk about Pokemon to someone who has never heard of them. That was an interesting angle to tackle things from. It's all basic information, but it was actually kind of refreshing to read something like that."

Bianca nodded. "Yeah, it gave me some things to think about. That was great; you should get an A for that."

"If it had been for a class," Cheren said, smiling. "But thanks. I wasn't sure if the journal would want to publish it, but they seemed to like it too."

"They know it's got potential to be talked about," Juniper said. That was one nice thing about her, her optimism for nearly anything.

But on the subject of that paper... he made himself sit up so he wasn't slouching to ask about it. "Oh, and about that essay? I wasn't kidding when I stated that it was done to help someone."

"Really, you met an alien?" Bianca asked, intrigued. Sometimes it was hard to tell if she was kidding or serious, even if he had known her for much of his life.

He chuckled. "No, about the guy who was a partial amnesiac. He's real. There's a fifteen year old boy here in Aspertia named Nate who got into a teleport accident. We don't know if it's his real name or what's actually going on with him, because it messed up his brain and he can't think straight. He didn't know much about Pokemon, so I've been tutoring him to bring him up to speed."

"That sounds pretty bad," Bianca said. "Is he getting better?"

He nodded. "Yeah. If you go over information enough with him, it seems to settle parts of his mind and he can recall that knowledge. Nate's just about gotten information about Pokemon down, so we're to the point of making sure he retains that knowledge."

"So you would have to completely rethink the basics, to help out someone like him," Juniper said. "That's impressive that you were able to help him."

"Thanks, but... I want to ask you for a favor, on his behalf. See, he seems to know something about what happened to Hilda."

"Does he?" Bianca asked, sounding hopeful. "But what does he know?"

Cheren shrugged. "Well that's the thing. While his thoughts can't be arranged, he can't focus on what he knows about her. From what he has told me, I'm sure that he met her somehow. He wants to travel around Unova and see if he can find places to figure out clues. I was wondering if you'd be willing to give him one of the Pokemon from your studies to help him do that. Maybe even a Pokedex? He could help with the second review period and having one would work with repeating the information and getting it set for him."

"I see," she said, looking thoughtful.

"He's a good guy," he said. "Due to his condition, sometimes he says or asks odd things, but he thinks through things carefully and is intelligent. And he's done well around Pokemon; might even be his outsider's view, so to speak, as he observes them more closely to learn about them. He got most of my team to like him within a few minutes of interaction."

"So we could help him while he helps us, with his different point of view," Bianca asked.

He nodded. "And if you wanted another participant, there's a girl here in Aspertia who I believe has good potential too. Rosa Wilburs, she can be a little ditzy and disorganized, but she has a big heart and enthusiasm, and even some cleverness that can surprise people. They're planning on traveling together come this spring."

"Rosa Wilburs?" Juniper asked, raising an eyebrow. "Wait, do you mean the daughter of Janice Wilburs?"

He thought about it. "Yeah, that's her mother's name."

She gave a merry laugh. "Oh, I know her. It's been years since I've spoken with Janice, though. We exchange birthday and Christmas cards, but that's it usually. Well if Rosa is anything like her mother, I'm sure she'll be a delight to have as a helper and field researcher. I haven't made any decisions on new Trainers to bring into the Pokedex project, but I'll certainly put those two on the list and look into them. They're leaving in spring? Well that should be more than enough time. Might even try sending a few starters over early and telling them to spend that time bonding until they were ready to go. Actually, that sounds like a good plan."

Bianca laughed. "Wait, don't tell me... are you going to be sending them over this week?"

"Possibly," the professor said, making them all laugh. "I do need to check into them, but if Cheren recommends those two, that's just about good enough for me."

* * *

February 4

They were meeting after school today, but that was because what Cheren wanted him to do was easier with the other kids having free time. The ground was slick with melted snow; as it was early February, most of the trees were still barren. Due to the gusty chill, they all wore their coats and jackets closed. In the playground behind the school building, a number of students had come to have Pokemon battles in the marked areas. Most hadn't started, partly due to the presence of Cheren. It seemed that despite being a serious student, he was popular here. Maybe that was because of his excellent record as a Pokemon Trainer.

That did seem to be the way to get a lot of respect in this world, Nate reflected. Pokemon battles settled a lot of issues and it seemed that many people judged a person based on how they conducted such a battle. He'd been studying about it, but this was the first time he'd be participating in one himself. At least, to his recollection (and that was pretty shoddy, so who could really know).

Cheren handed him a Pokeball. "Here, this is a Lillipup you can borrow. It should behave well for you. Now," he looked aside, then waved one of the younger boys over. "Taylor! Would you mind being Nate's first opponent for a one to one?"

"Sure!" A nine-year-old wearing baggy clothes and a baseball cap facing backwards came up, while other students backed out of the white boundaries on the ground. "I've been battling with lots of Pokemon for two years now, and I'm going to take the League by storm when I get old enough."

"You keep working on that," Cheren said. "Remember, stating things like 'one to one' or 'three to three' puts extra limits on how many Pokemon you can use, but if nothing's said, the standard is up to six each and Singles style. But we'll not get into alternate styles for now. Let's have a fair fight."

Nate checked the status window on the Lillipup's Pokeball, checking on its nickname, ability, and moves. As it was low-leveled, there wasn't a lot that could be done. But there might be enough options to form a simple tactic. "All right." He smiled at the boy facing him. "I'll give this a try."

"You've got a tough opponent for your first battle, and it's my Lillipup!" Taylor said proudly.

On looking to check with Cheren about when to start, Nate noticed that a couple of strangers had come into the schoolyard. It was a woman and a teenaged girl, both dark skinned and the latter with huge ponytails; he didn't recall seeing either around the school or town before. But, Aspertia was a large place. Since they weren't important now, he turned his attention back to the battle.

Cheren brought his hand up. "Ready... and go!"

There were some polite cheers, but since this was just one Lillipup against another, Nate figured it couldn't be that exciting for the audience. But for him, he did feel eager to give this a try. Which was odd, since it seemed to be a long time since he had gotten enthusiastic for anything. He released the borrowed Lillipup, noting how the two Pokemon wagged tails on seeing each other, barking playfully.

He'd only seen the names of the attacks in the Pokeball, but once he was in the battle, something in his mind clicked. All this stuff he'd been learning about Pokemon, or rather relearning, it had a lot more depth than he'd been thinking. Even with a simple battle like this. "Charles, use Leer," Nate said, while his opponent called for Tackle.

Winning by strength alone was possible; Nate's mind started racing as he considered this. But full-out offense wasn't the only way to win. There were statuses that could be inflicted to put further obstacles on the opponent. There were defensive strategies to soak up damage, or even to wall it out almost entirely until an opponent wore themselves out. And then, there were weakening and strengthening tactics like he had just used. Taylor's Lillipup would have taken two Tackles to take out his. But with Leer weakening defense of the opponent, Charles the Lillipup could knock out the other in just one Tackle.

"This match goes to Nate," Cheren said. A few of the girls were cheering for him, surprising Nate. "Be sure to get your Pokemon healed up soon, Taylor."

"Yeah, I will," the boy said, shrugging. "You win some and lose some, I know. See ya later."

Cheren came over to meet Nate on the battle square. "That was a pretty good tactic, actually, although we hadn't got into that."

He nodded, handing the Pokeball back. "Once it started, a lot of things came back to me. There's definitely something different, but I've done something like this before." In the video games he had played back in his old world, Nate assumed. But he'd given up on convincing people of that. If he kept trying, they'd keep assuming that he was crazy and he'd lose the freedom he had now to go around town freely.

"That's great," Cheren said, smiling. "Has anything else become clear to you, or just about battling?"

"I think it's just about Pokemon," Nate said, rubbing his head as it hurt some. "Sorry."

"Don't be; this will go a long way towards helping you." He glanced aside, finally noticing the woman and girl who had come in. "Oh, Lenora, Iris! This is a pleasant surprise, hello."

"Hi Cheren!" the girl said. "You seem to be taking charge around here."

"Well this is kind of incidental. I've been tutoring my friend; this is Nate." Cheren pointed to the other two as he introduced them. "This is Lenora; she runs the Gym in Nacrene City. And this is Iris, the current League Champion. So what brings you around here?"

"Hello there," Lenora said to Nate, smiling warmly. But then she turned to Cheren. "I have a big thing to ask you about, Cheren, but I feel that you're most capable of it. I'd like you to take charge of being the Gym Leader holding the Basic Badge."

He stared at her for a moment before asking, "You want me to take over as Gym Leader in your place? But, I haven't even applied for a position like that, or with the League for anything."

Iris grinned at him. "I think you proved yourself capable just right now, when you were officiating that battle."

"Yes, that was nicely handled," Lenora agreed. "And I've seen your proposal for a Gym, which looks to be quite effective for a simple set-up."

He looked confused for a moment, then realized what they meant. "That was my final project for a class last semester, not anything official. But there's a lot more that goes into it than that."

Lenora nodded. "True. But then there's that essay you published recently, which while also basic proves that you understand Pokemon well enough to get such ideas across clearly. While you've been in school, you've kept up as an outstanding active Trainer. On top of that, you have another school project that shows you understand the type associated with the badge well, and my initial survey around town shows that the people here in Aspertia like you. So yes, you haven't applied, but I've seen enough to know that you're the best candidate to replace me. That is, if you want to."

"I'll do it," Cheren said, smiling although he still seemed stunned at the offer. "This is great, thanks! I might need to reconsider my school schedule... but what are you giving up the position for?"

Putting a hand to her cheek, she laughed. "Maternity leave. I still have a couple of months on duty, but we're going to need that time to get you prepared to make a smooth turn-over. I can pass over some of my Gym Pokemon to you, but it'd be best for you to start getting a roster of Pokemon prepared."

"Oh, congratulations to you too," Cheren said.

Without warning, Rosa popped up nearby. "Eee, this is great, Cheren! I know you'll do great."

"He certainly will," Iris said cheerfully. Then she rolled her eyes. "But now we need to get you started on some paperwork and the boring stuff to make this official. Is there some room in the school we can borrow?"

"I think so, but we'd better ask in the office," Cheren said. Then he looked at Nate. "Sorry to leave so suddenly, but we'd better take care of this. I'll see you around."

Nate smiled and shook his hand. "Sure, thanks for helping me. I'm sure you'll do well."

After giving an appreciative smile, Cheren went back into the school building. Rosa came up to him. "How's it going, Nate? You handled that battle really well."

"I remember what I'd forgotten about Pokemon," he told her. "A large portion of it, anyhow. So I shouldn't hold you guys back when we leave this spring."

"That's great!" she said, clapping her hands together. "But you know, if Cheren's going to become a Gym Leader here in Aspertia, we might not want to leave right at the start of spring. When you start earning Gym badges, you not only get more respect with every badge earned, you also get more items available to buy at Pokemarts. So it'd be cool to be able to leave with one badge earned already."

He nodded. "Sounds good. But we need to get Pokemon first."

"There's plenty of time to figure that out," Rosa said, swaying and making her long ponytails swing. Then she turned to him and tapped his nose. "Also, you've been more cheerful and not so serious lately. Something happen?"

Nate chuckled at that. "Not really. Where I came from... it was dreary, dismal, and depressing, and you never knew what terrible thing was waiting ahead. But being around here, I don't need to worry anymore. I feel like I'm almost free to do anything, and it seems like once I can travel around, that'll come true. So yeah, I've been really happy lately."

"That's wonderful! But while we're not doing anything now, want to go to the coffeehouse to get some hot cocoa and work on schoolwork?" She was bouncing on her toes, somehow enthusiastic about the idea of doing homework if it meant hanging out with him and getting cocoa.

"Weren't we trying to convince the others that we weren't dating?" Nate teased her.

She made a face. "If we're not doing something like holding hands or cuddling, I think we're safe. Come on, I've got some allowance we can use."

"I'll pay for my own. Okay, let's go." He went over to the building to pick up his bag.

Life was being wonderful to him; he hoped that wasn't going to change.

* * *

February 4

?

"Times are changing," a strong voice stated through the darkened meeting area. Glowing LED lights illuminated the stage in a greenish-blue hue. "We have been pursing great changes in the world, but our first attempt was pulled out from under us by a series of unexpected turns and twists. But not this time; am I right?"

Cheers burst out through the room. This confidence on the speaker's part was reassuring to the audience. Yes, things had changed, but they all hoped it was for the better. There was the man on the stage before them, for one reason. He was now their leader, although no one outside the group would even realize it until much too late. As usual, he wore a long white coat that flared out at the bottom, always clean and immaculate no matter what he seemed to be doing. Over his eyes, he wore an unusual pair of eyeglasses that was attached by red wires to a small computer hidden somewhere under his clothes. A tablet screen sat on the podium, wirelessly connected to the computer he wore. A number of them liked to joke that he was that much attached to his work.

And he would reply, in total seriousness, that that was true. He gestured to them. "We are smaller in numbers, but that does not worry me one moment. Almost two years ago, there was a crisis of faith and many fell out." The room quieted, but he was still confident. "This is not something that should deter us. What has happened is that we lost much of the chaff that weighed us down. The weak ones have all left, leaving only the strong, the capable, and the ones who truly want to succeed. And what do we really want to succeed at? Nothing less than taking the whole world by storm and introducing a change that will raise all of humanity and all of Pokemon kind to their greatest potential! We will rule the world!"

The small audience roared with their approval, even coming to their feet. This wasn't skipping about the big issues with emotional and philosophical appeals. This was a blunt call for dominance and transformation. Two years ago, there would have been many of their numbers who would have balked at this. Even their old leader, as revered as he had been. But as their new leader said, the ones who were weak with caution were gone now. Only the ones who could get their dreams realized remained.

The speaker closed his hand, getting them to quiet again. "We face many challenges, some old, some new. People know our name and are still wary, so we will not go unrecognized even with the many changes we've made. They expect us to challenge their ingrained ways and cause them problems. We must work with caution ourselves, getting our work done out of sight and changing our strategies. For the next few months, we will need to continue setting the stage in the background. But don't forget; we have great power backing us and we will make it greater still.

"I have at hand the strategies for the next phase of our grand dream," he said, picking up the tablet briefly. "Today, either I or one of the Sages will meet with you all to instruct you on where you will be stationed and what you will need to accomplish. Do not worry about what you will be doing or what importance it has. Alone, it may seem like a small thing, not enough to cause a great change. But together, each of your assignments is a piece in the grand puzzle, the picture of which will appear as you accomplish your goals. All of you are important. Remember this and we will bring Team Plasma the glory that we all deserve! You are dismissed."

Every single one of them was filled with enthusiasm, eager to accomplish what could not be done before.

* * *

Colress entered the hallway and was met with an Elgyem. The gray Pokemon raised a three-fingered hand to him, making his multi-colored markings flash. "Eehsa."

"Hello to you too," he said, nodding and moving on down the hall, with the Elgyem floated after him. Colress raised his tablet and noted that no one else seemed to be in the hall yet. "You were listening, weren't you Triste? I wasn't even a part of them two years ago when things fell apart. But they still ate that right up. The need for someone to follow leads to some irrational thinking, such as lack of research."

Because if any of them actually cared to look into it and think, they'd realize that he'd simply been in the right place at the right time. Colress had known the true leader of Plasma, the puppet master Ghetsis, from years ago through his mentor Umber. Ghetsis and Umber were both powerful men working closely together. But their power was too similar, and the clash of their powerful wills and vicious personalities was barely kept in check through a balance in who knew what secrets.

Looking to eliminate a rival, Ghetsis had called on Colress to betray Umber. It didn't bother him all that much. Umber claimed to be a man of science, but his alcoholism and sadism got in the way of any useful research he could have produced. And if there was one thing Colress could not stand, it was someone who would tarnish the pure beauty that was science. He got the key to Umber's secrets by stealing his network password, and Ghetsis had Umber killed.

Colress didn't commit to Plasma or Ghetsis then, though. Getting a free pass to look into the secret organization, he stayed around to see what they had accomplished and how they had done so. He'd found a lot of regrettable weaknesses, including a lot of dependance on faith and the puppet leader who held Plasma together. That young man, good grief... Colress hadn't gotten to speak with N directly, but he knew Ghetsis had squandered his ward's talents. N had a mind that could grasp mathematics, physics, and language magnificently, but did not have the right education to take full advantage of that. He wasn't even fit to be a leader, being overly emotional (although that did give him a lot of sympathy points and personal appeal) and severely deficient socially. And that was in the opinion of someone who felt dating was a clumsy social construction to satisfy biological needs that he had no desire to fulfill. That was just sad.

But while Colress had been peering into them curiously, Team Plasma collapsed because of a single Pokemon battle. Technically two, but the first was all that was needed for the young leader to call it quits and abandon the cause he had so passionately pursued. Many Plasma members, including several of the other leaders, had been captured by the Pokemon League and the government. Ghetsis had gotten away and Colress willingly gave the authorities some information to get away without suspicion. The two men met up and a deal was struck to revive Team Plasma with Colress in charge.

On the surface, anyhow. As he entered the room he was working from and looked out the windows at the wide ocean around them, he knew and accepted the fact that Ghetsis was the real authority. The position was risky. But, it gave him resources that were well beyond that of an independent scientist. The most valuable ones, amusingly enough, were the members of Plasma themselves, already trained and socially programmed to obey their leaders with pride.

One of them came in shortly after he did. "Colress, sir, I was told to come here for briefing."

He nodded. "Yes, of course. Let me see your ID." He checked the member number, searching for it on his files with the tablet. "Yes... you are to go to the Virbank area. Do you have Pokemon working with you?"

He shook his head. "No sir, I turned them all over with the reassignment."

"Good." He went to one of the boxes he had set up and brought out an item storage mini-computer. Two Pokeballs were attached to it. "This contains all of the equipment you need, just let me upload the specifics of your assignment... there."

"Thank you, sir," he said, accepting the package.

Colress couldn't help but smile. Much better than working with lab assistants. "Of course. I have some further explanation of instructions for you, and that is about your Pokemon." He tapped the box. "We have changed philosophies, but part of our goal is still to bring out the best in Pokemon. I have given you an allotment of power drinks for you to give to your Pokemon. Your instructions include which drinks you should give which Pokemon to maximize the potential for both. But this cannot be done all at once. It is a prescribed process, and I will send you more at a set date. You should not have to battle much to make your team the best they can be, but I still want a detailed battle log from you to ascertain that you are treating your Pokemon properly."

The grunt bowed. "Yes sir. I'll do that."

Colress gave a salute. "Then that should do it. Do well." Once he was gone, Colress made some notes on his tablet. "That would be the group of raw numbers and biochemical enhancements. I had to give them some inhibitors to bring down their experience value, but only to natural levels."

"Ee sa cha?" Triste the Elgyem said, seeming to set up a query.

"I have my own plans for you," Colress said, looking to the Pokemon. "What I said to him is based on anecdotal data that has bias from the manufacturer of the power drinks, so their experimentation and reports must be considered suspect."

There was a knock at the door as another male grunt came in. "Sir, on the briefing?"

Colress turned to him and nodded. "Yes, but it may be brief. May I see your ID?" Once checking on the grouping this grunt was in, Colress went to another box to get another mini-comp package. "You are assigned to the Castelia area; I've just added the specifics to the journal in here. You have two Pokemon to use. They're a part of the tools you'll need for the job, so give them the basic care and maintenance as I've written in your instructions. You should battle with them some so they don't get rusty, but be strict with them and keep a detailed battle log. That should be all you need to make the best use for them."

"Yes sir," the grunt said.

Once he was gone, Triste pointed to the door. "Bee ay da de?"

"Your intelligence scores suggest that you do grasp the situation," Colress told him. "It's perfectly fine. You see..." He got interrupted by the next briefing, for which Colress gave no instructions on what to do with the Pokemon other than to keep a battle and mission log.

The briefing after that got a puzzled response from the grunt. "You want me to talk with the Pokemon? And keep one out with me constantly, switching between the two equally?"

Colress nodded. "Exactly. I know it may seem daft, but it comes from intriguing research into the success of many of those who have held the Champion's position, not just in Unova but around the world. Keep them at your side and talk with them, even if it's simple prattle, and they will put forth more of their power in battle. You need to keep a detailed log of your battles, missions, and dealings with your Pokemon so that I may review your progress. And if I find that you have failed to follow my instructions on the handling of your Pokemon, your pay will be severely docked. Understand?"

The grunt bowed. "Yes sir. I'll give it a try."

Once he was gone, Colress got an extra minute to pay attention to Triste again. "This is why I agreed to join Team Plasma," he told the Eleygm. "I need a lot of Trainers to act as subjects for a study into what Pokemon training methods are most effective and reliable. There are a myriad of factors to consider, but I have assigned every one of them specific Pokemon and methods to focus on. Being a part of this group, encourage to think, dress, and be alike in the name of unity, helps to eliminate many of those extraneous factors. With this, I will be able to state with almost certainty what works and what does not when it comes to training Pokemon and bringing out their latent powers. For now, I can merely hypothesize."

Triste blinked slowly. Then he put his hands together and made a low bow. "Haa saa."

Pleased that this Pokemon could grasp his idea, Colress gave a smaller bow in return. "Yes... this is the chance that I've wanted for so many years, the ability to set my grand experiment in motion. You aren't exempt from this either. But, we've already begun."

And let Ghetsis pursue whatever half-baked failure of a dream he had, Colress thought but kept to himself. He was going to do whatever it took to get to the scientific truth of Pokemon. The knowledge would be all the reward and power he desired.


	5. Standard Starter Scene

February 11

Aspertia

It was early afternoon when Janice Wilburs got the call. "Oh hi Aurea!" she said, smiling. "It's been a long time since I've gotten to talk to you."

"I know," Aurea Juniper said, smiling back over the Xtransciever screen. "Seems to be happening a lot to me. We move up and ahead in life, making new friends and sometimes losing contact with others... but never mind that, how have you been? How's the Pokecenter out there doing?"

They just chatted for a while, about life, jobs, and recent news. In a way, she was right. Sometimes life got in the way and once close friends became distant. But even so, it was easy to slip back into friendship and laugh together like they used to.

"But I do have a reason behind calling you now," the professor said. "I've been looking for some novice Pokemon Trainers to help do a second sweep through the region with the Pokedex project, and I'd like to get Rosa to join in. She'll get a starting Pokemon, the Pokedex, and some other supplies to help her get going."

Janice raised an eyebrow. "Really, my child? I have a hard enough time trying to get her to keep her room neat and you want her on something that important?" After laughing, she said, "I kid. Seriously, that's wonderful of you to offer. She's been talking about going on a trek through Unova in the spring with some friends and getting a Pokemon was one of the few things they needed to get done first."

"Well then this is just perfect," she said. "There's another candidate from Aspertia that I plan to sponsor, a young fellow called Nate. They should be out of school around three, right? I've sent my assistant Bianca to get their Pokemon to them."

"Already? Oh Aurea, you never change, do you? Did you decide on this just yesterday?"

"Not this time," she said, then winked. "Two days ago. I did some research."

Janice laughed. "You joker. But as I said, they don't intend to leave for a while."

She shrugged. "That's fine. It gives them time to bond with their new partners, which could help in the end. And I thought you should know first. Let her know when she gets out of school."

"Certainly. Thanks for doing this; she's going to be so excited, and it should help Nate out a lot too." Even if he had been suspicious at first for dropping into her daughter's bedroom unexpectedly, Nate had proven himself to be a good young man. He was just a quietly confused one who probably had a lot of searching to do to figure out who he was, even more so than the usual teenager.

Thankfully, Rosa came straight back home from school today, even bringing Nate with her. "Hi Mom!" she said, holding the door open for him. "I brought Nate over today to do some work on a group project."

"That's fine," she said, acting like nothing big was going to happen. "I could get you a snack, but there's something I need to ask you both first. Did you two each want a Pokemon?"

Nate just nodded, but Rosa's eyes went wide. "Yes! Did you find some help for us?"

In some ways, she was still much like a little girl, especially when she got excited. Janice smiled and put a finger to her lips. "Maybe, but one more question from me. Did you two want to get a Pokedex?"

Unsurprisingly, this puzzled Nate. Rosa jumped at that. "Wow, that's amazing! Yeah, that'd be the best thing ever to have along!"

"I thought it might be helpful," she said. "Well then you two are in luck. You've both been chosen to be field researchers for the Pokedex database survey of Unova by Professor Aurea Juniper, apparently on a recommendation from Cheren. And to do that, you will both be assigned a partner Pokemon for assistance and a case study."

Rosa squealed eagerly and bounded over to hug her, while Nate still looked uncertain. "That's awesome! Oh my gosh, this is going to make things much more fun and interesting! We're going to have to give Cheren a big thank you later."

"What are we being asked to do?" Nate asked, looking at the two of them.

"The Pokedex is this huge computer encyclopedia index that records tons of information about Pokemon," Rosa explained. "But it only got started, what, seven years ago or something, and they still need to record a lot of data about where Pokemon live and how they grow. I thought they got the survey done here in Unova because the data is live on the internet, and that's what Cheren did for a while before he started school."

"Apparently the Pokemon populations have shifted in the past couple of years, so Aurea wants to get a second survey over the region," Janice said. "You'll want to ask her assistant when you go to get your Pokemon." Then she winked. "And I mean today. She told me that Bianca should be here in Aspertia now. She has blond hair and should be wearing a green hat, so you should go on out to go find her."

"Yeah, let's go!" Rosa said, running back to the door and grabbing Nate on the way over.

"Thanks for letting us know," Nate said before he got dragged by her out the door.

"You're welcome!" she called back to him. Looking at where Rosa had dropped her schoolbag on the floor, she chuckled and went to set that on the shelf where Nate had put his. "Things are always exciting to you. But this is definitely a special day."

"What's all the fuss about?" Nolan asked, coming upstairs from the basement.

"We're going to have a couple of Pokemon to join us for dinner," Janice said, turning to him. "Rosa and Nate are getting some Pokemon from an old friend of mine today; we just found out about this too. But it should be good. How's the repairs coming?"

"I need to get some more supplies, but it's just about done," he said, although he was grinning for one reason or another. "I have some big news too: I just got a call from an old client and he has an offer from a friend of his. Could be a huge opportunity."

"Then you're taking off again?" she asked, giving him a hug. "Seems like not that long ago you got back home."

"I know, sorry," he said.

* * *

Not long after they left her home, Nate managed to get Rosa to let go of him just in time to avoid a collision with Hugh. Rosa and Hugh were not as lucky. "Oh hey, watch it," Hugh said, rubbing his head after being knocked onto the ground with her.

"S-sorry!" she said, backing off. "I didn't see you coming."

"You were so excited that I don't think you would've noticed anyone," Nate said, smiling at the scene before offering to help Rosa up.

She took his hand and got back onto her feet. "Yeah, but this time I have a perfectly valid reason for being excited! Eee!" Then she fell into giggles.

Hugh's sister Violet laughed at them. "Perfectly valid, huh? What is it this time? Did Nate ask you out?"

"No!" But she hardly seemed to get annoyed about that now. Then she happily told them about how they'd been picked to help with the Pokedex and get a Pokemon for doing so.

Nate thought it was a good deal, and Hugh seemed to agree; he looked impressed, even a bit jealous. "Well that solves how you two are going to be getting Pokemon. And the Pokedex project even? Man, that's a big deal, something everyone uses. So who are we looking for?"

"The Professor's assistant Bianca," Nate said. "She apparently has blond hair and green hat. No word on what kind of hat, though."

"I think I've heard of her," Hugh said. "Well all right then, let's get looking. But paying more attention to our surroundings this time."

Rosa blushed. "Okay, okay."

"I've got to get back home, remember?" Violet said, tugging at her brother's sleeve. "I'll see you later, but I want to meet your Pokemon too!"

"Sure thing," Rosa said, back to smiles and sunshine.

The description was a bit difficult to follow. Due to the cool weather, most people who were outside were wearing hats. But also due to the weather, there weren't many people out today. They found one blond woman with a green wool cap, but she was someone they saw around town regularly, so it definitely wasn't her. When they got to the gatehouse leading to outside of Aspertia, they hadn't seen another person who matched the description. But there was one more place in town to search: the overlook.

It was in the northeast corner of Aspertia, something of an anomaly as it was a large narrow hill in a mostly flat area. Some of that had to do with leveling the area to build the town, but why the town founders had left this was another thing Nate didn't know. A fancy staircase led the way to the top, which led to a panoramic view over the surrounding landscape.

Up there, they found what seemed to be the right person. There was a older girl who seemed to be around the same age as Cheren, with a green beret, wavy blond hair, and a long fuzzy green coat. With her were a Stoutland, a large canine Pokemon that a Lillipup would eventually grow into, and a Musharna, a strange pink and purple Pokemon that hung in the air like it was curled up asleep. The girl was leaning on the railing up there, looking out at a mountain that rose to the northeast.

"That must be her," Hugh said, stopping near the top of the stairs. "You two go on ahead and talk to her."

"What, you shy about meeting her?" Rosa teased him.

"Wha, no!" he insisted. "You're the ones who were picked, not me. Go on, I'll wait for you."

Nate shrugged, so headed up the last steps with Rosa and across the overlook to meet with her. The Stoutland noticed them, perking up her ears and barking a glad greeting to them. But, Bianca seemed distracted. "Wo-ow, this view is just as amazing as everyone says it is. I wonder if I can see Nuvema from here."

"Muuuraashooo," the Musharna warbled, trying to get her attention.

"Hmm?" Bianca turned around, then smiled on seeing the two of them. "Oh, hello! You must be Rosa; I recognize you from your school photo. And is this Nate with you?"

Rosa nodded. "Yeah, that's us. You're Bianca, right?" She put her hands behind her back and swayed a bit.

"And that's me," she said happily. "I help Professor Juniper with her research, mostly in the field with the Pokedex project, but I'm the only one actively on it these days. Oh, these are two of my Pokemon that help me. The pink one is Timmy, and this is Lassie. They've been with me a long time."

"Yeah, since the days when you were in the League too," Rosa said.

This made her blush and push her hair back nervously. "Oops, you know about that? Hah, well yes. I tried it out for a little while, but it just wasn't right for me. But maybe one of you will do well in the League someday. But, it's all up to you! One of the nice things about Pokemon is that they can help you find out what you want to do with yourself too, even if what you find isn't what you were expecting." Then her eyes widened and she laughed at herself. "But, I shouldn't be rambling on when we've got things to do, right?" She opened up her back and brought out a cylindrical case. "Professor Juniper was nice enough to send along three different Pokemon, so you can choose whichever one you like. And don't worry about the third; we'll find a good home for him or her."

When Bianca opened up the case, there was a hiss and some water vapor escaped into the air. Inside, there were three Pokeballs set in a row. Some small labels by each slot seemed to mark which one was which. "You go on first," Nate said.

Rosa smiled. "Thanks. But I'm not sure which one I'd want." She came over and looked at the labels by them.

"If you don't know the particular kind of Pokemon, you can choose one by type, for the one that most suits you," Bianca said. "This Pokemon is your starter, one of your most valuable partners, so it's important that it be one that matches you well."

If that was so, then Nate didn't see why they wouldn't give a more in-depth version of this, asking questions to get to know more about the candidates. Maybe it was just tradition. In the meantime, Rosa was considering that advice. "Makes sense. Well then I don't think I'll take the Grass one. Sorry, but," she shivered a bit, "Grass Pokemon freak me out and a lot of them scare me."

"Really?" Bianca asked, sounding surprised. "I've heard that a lot of people feel that way about Ghost Pokemon, but not Grass."

"Well they're plants, and plants aren't supposed to get up and attack," Rosa said, sounding creeped out just talking about them. "Hmmm... okay then I'll take this one," she said, taking the central one.

"Good, then you have the Oshawott," Bianca said happily. "That's what I chose when I started, so it should help you well. Except against Grass Pokemon, but you should be able to find another Pokemon that can handle them better. So which one do you want, Nate?"

He came forward, looking at the other two: Snivy and Tepig. But since it was down to two, it was an easier choice. Hugh talked a lot about his Pokemon, which was a Snivy. And if Rosa didn't like Grass Pokemon, it didn't seem like a good idea for two of them to start out both with Grass types. Tepig was a Fire type; recalling the games, it would be useful as that type had a reputation for being uncommon. "I'll go with this Tepig," he said, taking the one on the right.

"All right, then it's yours," Bianca said, shutting up the container and putting it away. "Since they're gift Pokemon, you'll be registered as their original Trainer, so you can give them any nickname you want. Why don't you bring them out to meet them and see what you think would fit them best?"

"Great!" Rosa said, looking at the status screen. "Oh, I've got a boy." She pressed the button and released a white and blue Pokemon that held onto a yellow scallop shell.

The Oshawott shook himself, then put his shell on his belly and looked up at Rosa. "Hiithhuu," he said, waddling over to her with his arms raised up.

Giggling, Rosa picked him up and hugged him. "Aw, he's cute!"

In the meantime, Nate had called out a red and black pig Pokemon. Checking the screen showed that this was a female. She snuffled around on the ground for a moment, then clicked her hooves on the pavement and looked up at him. The way she held herself and the look in her dark brown eyes seemed to show intelligence to Nate, although it would take some time and observation to see if she really had it. "Hello," he said to the Tepig. "It's good to meet you."

"Snorf." She took a few steps towards him, wrinkling her nose as she checked out all the scents around her.

"You seem like a Ruby to me," he said, kneeling down to pet her head. "So I'll call you Ruby."

Ruby snorted louder and twitched her curly tail. Bianca laughed. "I think she likes that. What do you think, Rosa?"

"I'm not sure," she said, putting her Oshawott down. He immediately ran over to Bianca with his arms raised.

"Fine, one last hug," she said, picking him up. "I can tell you this: he's always been really affectionate to everyone he's met. Loves to get hugs."

"Maybe I'll call him Troubadour," Rosa said, although it wasn't easy to tell if she was kidding or being serious.

"Isn't that kind of long?" Nate asked. And not what he'd immediately think of for a Pokemon that liked to give hugs. The Oshawott even gave Ruby one, making her step back in surprise.

"Well just Bard then," she said.

"That would certainly be unique," Bianca said, taking more things out of her bag. "But if you're happy with it, that's what matters most. And since you have your partners now, you each get one of these! An official Pokedex." She passed over Rosa's first, since Nate was distracted by Bard asking for a hug.

When he could put the Oshawott down and take his own Pokedex, Nate noticed that it looked like a small notebook computer, or a Nintendo DS (although he had a lot more to do here, he still missed the one he left behind to get to this world). It had a diagonal red and white pattern, much like a Pokeball. When the top button was pushed, the unit was unlocked, letting the cover be flipped up to show a screen. Bianca talked them through registering the units by shifting to the keypad function on the touchscreen portion. With that done, it immediately brought up a scrolling list full of blank entries. There was a small ping, and then it showed that four entries had been added: Tepig, Oshawott, Stoutland, and Musharna were all revealed in the list, although the entries on Nate's for all but Tepig seemed scant.

"All modern Pokeballs will register lots of data on a Pokemon's stats, where it was caught, and many other things," Bianca said, taking two Pokeballs out of her holder. "You can ask other Trainers to let you scan their Pokeballs for more information about the Pokemon they have. This helps a lot, because you can get the detailed data without having to catch all of them yourself. Here, you can try with these two of mine." After that, she told them about search functions and other things in the index. "And this new version has a habitat recorder, so you can tell exactly where the Pokemon were found, like in the grass or in the water, or even what route or area."

"Cool, so it'll do that for any Pokemon we've gotten it to record?" Rosa asked.

Bianca nodded. "Yes, as long as you leave the scanner on, it will register any wild Pokemon you come across and record where it is in the database."

While it was a big project to take on, it sounded like keeping up the Pokedex research would be fairly simple. Just go around, find many Pokemon, battle other Trainers and ask to register their Pokemon, check out rumors, and explore a lot of areas, that would give the database researchers a lot of data to work with. In doing that, it was likely that he would find the locations from the game intro.

Thinking on that... Nate stepped back and looked around the overlook. With that, one of those images became definite enough to remember. "I think this is one of the places," he said.

"What did you say?" Rosa asked, now holding Bard again. Ruby picked up her ears and walked closer to him.

Nate looked to her, then waved her a few feet forward. "I don't think I told you, but... I was sent here by a girl named Hilda. I'm supposed to help her, and I was given some strange clues to follow in places to find. And this is one of them."

"Was Hilda here?" Bianca said, a touch of sadness in her voice.

On the other hand, Rosa seemed impressed. "Whoa, you mean the Hilda? You met that wild girl who got chosen by Kyurem and took down Team Plasma, and then became the League Champion? That's incredible! I always wanted to meet her in person."

"She disappeared and nobody knows where she is," Bianca said.

"Did she?" Rosa looked disappointed. "Well as far as I know, she never visited Aspertia. I mean, we would have noticed and she always got a lot of attention where she went. But, Cheren and Hilbert visited Aspertia back then. Actually, it was around here that was the first time I met Cheren."

"I remember that," Hugh said, having finally come up to join them. "They were searching around for a few days, and then they called on Tornadus. The two of us were watching them and it turned out that Tornadus liked the windchime that Rosa's mother had hung outside their front door."

"Tornadus doesn't sound quite right," Nate said, closing his eyes. The image was clearer, so he told them about it.

_It was dark in Aspertia; the only lights were the stars overhead and a flashlight in someone's hand. Two figures came onto the overlook and began to talk for a long time. What had been, what was happening now, what was to be. Troubling signs in the world... troubling signs in the self. The pieces weren't quite fitting together yet, but there was a hint of what was that didn't make sense._

_One of the two walked a few feet ahead, looking up to the stars. And the stars replied, bringing a whirlpool of water around the overlook to reveal the truth._

Nate opened his eyes and looked at them. "I'm afraid that's it. I can't tell who they are, as it's too dark."

"It can't have been what we saw," Hugh said. "Because it was cloudy and rainy."

Rosa nodded. "Yeah, Tornadus brought a big storm with him and kept it here for days."

"Um," Bianca put her hand to her cheek, "maybe it's metaphorical? I mean, the meaning of the clue isn't exactly what you saw? Because you're in the dark right now, if I understand things right. We haven't really been talking that deeply, but there are troubling things going on that no one knows what they mean, like Hilda and Kyurem disappearing. And a sign of water will help to reveal the truth," she smiled, "well, Rosa decided to take Oshawott, so maybe she's meant to help you find Hilda and yourself? I don't know what the stars mean."

"Wow, that could totally be right!" Rosa said, bouncing in place. Bard waved his paws, excited because she was. "And hey, he said that the stars revealed the sign of water, and you and Cheren and Professor Juniper are stars in Unova!"

Bianca blushed. "Oh, I'm not that big of star. Cheren might be, although both of us might be known because of our association with Hilda."

"That might be it," Nate said, looking at Rosa. "Then you'll help me try to find out what happened to Hilda and how to get her back home? And maybe tell me more about who she is, because I only talked with her for a short while, I think."

"Sure, I'll help," Rosa said. "Wow, solving a mystery like this, so exciting! Hilda was a really really big star. I mean, if Cheren and Bianca were stars like those in the night sky, then Hilda was like a supernova, or as bright as the sun itself."

"I certainly hope that she's not a supernova," Bianca said. "But she was very brave and funny, loved to show off. When she went through the Gyms in the Pokemon League, she always made a big production out of it. You can easily find the recordings of them, since they're still popular. And she ended up being the main force that brought down Team Plasma when they were at the height of their power."

"Who's Team Plasma?" Nate asked.

Mention of them seemed to dampen the mood of the others there. "They were villains," Hugh said, with a dark tone that Nate had never heard from him before. "They started showing up about six years ago, as a mysterious group with unknown goals. As they came into the open, they stated that they worked for the liberation of Pokemon to free them from humans. They thought that people were hurting them with what they called enslavement. But no matter how noble their goals were, they were still scum that stole Pokemon from many people."

"Or even convinced them to let their Pokemon go, even if the people loved their Pokemon with all their heart," Rosa said, seeming sad. "They even said that if you loved them, you should let them go and never expect to see them back."

Bianca shifted her hat. "Um, it was actually more complicated than that. It'd take a long time to really explain, though. There were a few people in Plasma that honestly believed they were doing the best thing for everyone." At that, Hugh snorted. "But a good number of them were up to no good too. Team Plasma was going to succeed by imitating popular legends in Unova, like making their leader the Black King who was approved of by Zekrom. Hilda was joined by Kyurem, a legendary dragon related to Zekrom but one not usually associated with heroes. But, she befriended and encouraged a boy named Hilbert who became the White King approved of by Reshiram, and helped him to challenge N..., I mean, Team Plasma's leader. And they did so in a way that followed the legends and when they won, the Black King agreed to back down, in accordance with the way of legends and what he had learned from them."

"It sounds familiar," Nate said, beginning to recall things again. Images and facts flew through his mind. "Reshiram and Zekrom are equals in power, and Kyurem lies between and around them as a balance. Their powers do not oppose each other; rather, they flow around and into each other, blending into one whole. And from that, we learn that what may seem to be opposite and separate are actually one and the same, the other side of an endless cycle and a union that must coexist for the benefit of all..." then they began to blur together, so constant and dense that it became painful. He gripped his head and closed his eyes tightly when the light began to burn. "Ugh..."

"Nate, you all right?" Rosa said, coming over and taking his arm. "What happened?"

"Whatever that was, it was weird," Hugh said. "You okay?"

"I thought you didn't know much about Pokemon?" Bianca asked, confused.

"Hmm? What was I talking about?" He tried to open his eyes, but the light was still fierce. "I've got such a headache now, like my brain overloaded."

"Maybe that is what happened," Rosa said. "Come on, I'd better take you back to the hospital."

"Oh dear, I hope it's not serious," Bianca said. "Ruby dear, you make sure to take good care of him."

"Oi!" the Tepig replied. When Nate started down the stairs with Rosa's help, he heard the footsteps of both Ruby and Bard following behind them.

* * *

The doctor had been able to diagnose his newest problem as a migraine, although it seemed unusual for one to be triggered by a sudden recollection of philosophy. "It might be from the disarray that your memory and knowledge are in now," he suggested. "If too many connections are remade too fast, then it might be overwhelming. But, this is just a hypothesis. It may also be that the actual damage occurred in the area that your thoughts triggered to turn back on." He prescribed a painkiller and got that medication to him quickly.

Then Nate was left in his guest room, with the curtains closed tight and the lights turned off. The drugs were starting to kick in, making it not as painful to observe what was going on around him. He was lying on the bed and surprisingly, Ruby was snuggled up to his side. From the look of her legs, it didn't seem like she could jump up to the bed easily. Maybe the doctor or the nurse had put her there. He rubbed her head, finding it much like human skin.

Noticing that, she opened her eyes and looked at him. If she were human, he'd say that she looked concerned. Maybe she was. She got up and moved a little closer, sniffing his hand.

"You seem worried," Nate said. "How are you attached enough to me already that this concerns you?"

Ruby snuffled, then lay back beside him again. She closed her eyes and put her snout up against him. Being a being of fire, her body was a warm presence close to him. It was soothing, actually, an encouragement to rest himself.

He petted her again. "How intelligent are you? And what does separate you from humankind? I might like to know that." It was odd that he earned her friendship already. Maybe Pokemon were naturally loving creatures, even though many people talked about their talent for battle. He'd have to make sure that he treated her in a way to deserve this friendship. He looked back up at the ceiling. "It's also odd... how I knew that about those specific Pokemon. Did Hilda say something to me? She did have a dragon on her cap, and it's a basic principle in Eastern philosophies. Day turns to night and night turns to day, connected in a cycle and only separated by time. History cycles in the same manner, on many levels; a time that favors truth may turn to a time that favors ideals when both are always there. But how did I see those names connected to those ideas? Maybe in another game?"

He rubbed his eyes, starting to feel drowsy. There was still a dull ache in his head, not making it easy to think. Later, then. For now, he'd rest.

* * *

Rosa felt worried as she walked home. But she couldn't feel down for long, not with her own Oshawott waddling nearby, looking at everything eagerly and sometimes wandering off to check something out. "You silly Ducklett," she teased as he swatted at some bushes around someone's house. "Come on, let's go home and you can meet my parents. Although, here I nicknamed you Bard, and I have no idea if you are a bard. Can you sing or dance?"

"Sha?" Bard turned to her, then started whirling around in the general direction she was walking. Then he stopped to give a nonsensical and almost but not quite musical song.

She burst into giggles at that. "All right, I guessed it right! Could use some practice, but then we could go around as a singing and dancing duo! Huh, maybe I should've taken dance lessons instead of karate." She picked Bard up and spun around with him, making him smile. Then she set him down and ran towards home, making sure he was chasing after her.

Right as they got onto her home street, they came up behind Nolan; he was carrying a canvas shopping bag with a plumbing pipe sticking out, among other items. "Hi Dad!" Rosa called, only slowing when she came to his side. "Look, look, I got a Pokemon!"

"Wonderful!" he said, looking down as Bard caught up and waved his paws at him. "How'd that happen?"

She laughed at that, in a mood to laugh at anything. Then she went ahead and told him all about what had happened this afternoon after school, taking long enough that they got back inside and Janice was able to listen in on most of Rosa's story. "We stuck around the hospital until the nurse said that Nate should be okay by tomorrow."

"That boy manages to get stranger by the day," Janice said, holding onto Bard as he had asked her for a hug. "Still, too bad he couldn't come back over. I was going to invite him and his Pokemon to stay for dinner."

"I hope this isn't going to hold you both back from starting your trip later on," Nolan said, the supplies for his repair project still waiting in their bag. "Oh yes and I had something exciting come up too. I could be hired soon to go find and photograph an elusive Pokemon."

"Aw, are you going to be leaving again?" Rosa asked. "I was hoping you could stay until spring when I'd be leaving too."

He shook his head. "Sorry, Rosa. This might keep me away for a long time. Though if I'm successful, it's going to be a big deal for everyone." He grinned in excitement. "There's this man who lives far off in Johto, called Eusine, who's been investigating into the legendary Pokemon Suicune for many years. There's evidence that it's been active recently, so he's decided that he wants Suicune photographed in the wild. But it's difficult to even find it, and no one's been able to get a good photo of it or the Pokemon related to it, Raikou and Entei. If I get hired for this project, I'll mostly be using his knowledge to try getting a photo of Suicune, but he'd pay me for either of the other two as well. I've been after mostly ordinary wild Pokemon, and I'll probably be getting shots of other Johto Pokemon to help with funding. But this could really make my name known if I succeed."

"That would be really exciting to photograph a legend," Rosa said, smiling and showing some enthusiasm for her dad. Although, she was sad that he'd be leaving yet again. His career kept him away from home more often than not.

"Yes, I've never had a chance like that," Nolan said. "Although I have seen one legendary Pokemon in person. Didn't have a camera on me."

"Why not?" Rosa asked, genuinely curious. "You always have a camera with you."

"Ah, I had a good reason not to have one at that moment," he said, rubbing his head.

"A very good reason," Janice said, chuckling some as she put Bard down. The Oshawott soon scurried after a toy ball that had been brought out. "Neither of us were expecting something like that to happen."

"What, what happened?" Rosa asked, wondering why her mom thought the question was funny. Or why she hadn't heard about them meeting a legendary Pokemon before. The closest she had gotten to one was watching Cheren and Hilbert call up Tornadus to talk with him. Even then, the winds made it hard to hear what they had been saying.

"Don't worry about it," Nolan said. "But yeah, the two of us came across Keldeo years ago. He even spoke to us. It was... well, very unexpected. I..." he looked over at Janice. "We can't really talk about the particulars."

"Not yet, at least."

Then he snapped his fingers. "Oh, but while we're talking about Keldeo, he gave us something. I think you should have it when you go traveling."

"Yes, that would be a good idea," Janice said, heading out of the living room. "I remember where I last put it, be back in a minute."

"Are you sure about that?" Rosa asked. A noise caught her attention as the ball bounced in front of her feet. Smiling, she knelt quickly to catch it, causing Bard to skid to a stop near her. Then she tossed it away, causing him to run after it.

Nolan laughed at the Oshawott's antics. "Energetic little guy, isn't he? But yes, I'm sure about it. With what we talked about, well... he'd like to meet our child, I'm sure. Keep his charm with you and Keldeo should find you."

"Here it is," Janice said, coming back into the room. "Be careful with it, as it does have a sharp edge."

Rosa took it for a closer look. It looked to be a little sword in a jeweled case. Attached to the case was a cluster of red, blue, and white hairs, some longer than the sword itself. The lock of hair also connected the sword to a long leather cord so that it could be worn as a necklace. Pulling on a small latch and taking out the tan hilt, she was able to remove the little sword: its blade was three inches long, dark blue at the base, but turned nearly white at the tip. "Wow, that's really pretty," she said as she latched the sword back in its case.

"It might have some power in it related to Keldeo," Nolan said. "It might not do much good to keep it laying around the house. On the other hand, something special might happen with it around Pokemon. I hope you can figure out what that is."

"I'll give it my best try," Rosa said, smiling for her dad.

* * *

In his room, Hugh grabbed the newest issue of one of his favorite magazines, Pokemon League Watch, and flopped onto his bed to check out what articles it had this month. It was global, but divided into dozens of sectors which focused on covered eight to ten regions. Some of the articles were written by the global writers, talking about finances, debates of guidelines and rules, emergence of new tactics, general trends related to the central League organization, and other broad issues. But most were written by the sector teams, talking about trends, Pokemon local to its regions, the specific Gyms, charity fundraisers, and much more. Sometimes even notable Trainers in the sector would be interviewed for a big article. Maybe one day, he could be written about in here.

But, that was a distant dream, nothing but a dream. He had more important things to focus on. And right now, all he could do was wait. It was an annoyance. He had gotten himself prepared and was eager to really get started, but he had to wait. He could glance through the magazine in case there were leads into things he didn't know, but that was unlikely.

However, thinking about the reason he had to wait was enough to stifle his annoyance. He glanced across the room, where the tip of a dark green leaf peeked out from a box a pair of boots had come in. That was where his Snivy Vino had decided to hibernate, snuggled in with a lap blanket to keep warm. Hugh would slide the box so that it was in the sunlight during the day, and by the vent where the warm air came at night. Even when he did this, the green serpent didn't stir beyond breathing. He wasn't old enough or strong enough to withstand winter yet. Hugh was willing to wait until Vino was ready to be active to leave Aspertia.

He turned his attention back to the magazine, searching for an article to read tonight. But then there was a soft knock at his door. "Hey, Hugh?"

"You can come in, Violet," he said, setting the magazine aside and sitting up. "What is it?"

His sister hopped up to sit on the bed beside him. "What happened with Rosa and Nate? I thought they were going to come so I could see their Pokemon."

"Nate ended up not feeling good again, so Rosa took him back to the hospital," Hugh said. "Don't worry, I don't think it's serious. I could tell you what ones they picked."

She shook her head. "No, I want to meet the Pokemon, or let them to tell me. So are they really gonna go with you to help look for my Purrloin?"

"Of course," Hugh said, nodding. "They've got things they're looking for too, mostly stuff to help Nate. Maybe they'll find something to help us too." He then tousled his sister's hair. "Don't worry, squirt. I'm going to set things straight, no matter what it takes."

"I know you will," she said, smiling and giving him a hug. "But don't get hurt."

Even though he gave her a small hug back, Hugh couldn't help but feel a worry that it wouldn't work out. That he wouldn't be able to do anything to fix things because so many years had passed. But no. He wasn't going to be weak and scared like that this time. He was going to help Vino grow into a great Pokemon, and then nobody was going to stop them from getting justice for his sister.

And if he had the help of Rosa and Nate, then it made their future victory more certain.


	6. The Stragglers

April 11

Aspertia

The last few weeks of winter and the first weeks of spring into April were busy, although they were unable to leave Aspertia just yet. Rosa and Hugh had to focus hard on their studies, to get through them in time to qualify for the end-of-year exams early. The school and hospital officials came to an agreement not to worry about testing Nate until fall, to see if he needed to be enrolled in school then. For now, he sat in on various classes and studied on his own, both to prepare for the journey ahead and to see if he could fix his mind further.

Cheren was busy with finishing his own studies in Aspertia as well as serving some time in Lenora's Gym as one of its Trainers so that he could prepare to take over the position from her. The plan was for Lenora to shut down her Gym on April 20th and for Cheren to open his on the 21st. With that in mind, Nate, Rose, and Hugh started training their Pokemon at the start of April, out on Route 19, in hopes of being prepared to challenge Cheren when he started..

This would not go as planned.

It started early one Saturday morning. Hugh came into the kitchen, greeting Vino who was enjoying a sunny patch on the floor. At the dining table, his parents were watching the news and discussing about getting the house repainted. His sister was shuffling around in her slippers and pajamas still, checking the cupboards and the pantry. "Don't know what to have for breakfast?" he said, grabbed a bowl and spoon for come cereal.

Violet shook her head. "No, I already ate. You're the one who's up late."

"At least I'm already dressed."

She shrugged and went back to digging past cans. "I wanted to do some baking, but I can't find any berries. I could make something else, but, I really wanted to try that poffin recipe Grandma sent us."

"I would help you with it, but it's not much of a poffin without berries," their mother said. She worked at a restaurant a few blocks over, a job that kept her there for many hours. But she nearly always cooked or baked with Violet when she had a day off like today, something the girl looked forward to.

That didn't seem like a big problem to Hugh. "I saw some berry bushes earlier this week out on the route. If we went out there now, we should be able to pick them."

Violet's eyes brightened. "Oh, will you take me out there?"

"Of course, but not in your pajamas," he told her.

She laughed. "Okay, I'll get dressed! Thanks, you're the best." She then went back to her room.

Their mother got up from the table. "That's great. Then I hope we can make one your Snivy will like. I'd better check the recipe and see how many you two should get."

An hour later, Hugh, Violet, and Vino left the house. Violet had brought a sun hat and a basket lined with a flower-patterned cloth with her. Although it was breezy, it was still a beautiful morning to be outside. "Are there berry bushes very far down Route 19?" Violet asked.

"Not that far," he said. "There's a ledge past the first patch of tall grass, and the bushes are growing just past that."

"That's good." They walked quietly down the street for a couple of blocks, but then Violet smiled at some thought. "Hey, you know what? We should have a picnic out on Route 19 sometimes before you and your friends leave Aspertia. We won't get to do that this summer with all of you gone."

Picnics weren't exactly Hugh's idea of a good time. But his sister and Rosa liked them; they usually went up to the overlook, at most the side of the pond on Route 19. For Violet's sake, he could tolerate one more before getting down the serious business. "Sure thing. And if our parents don't mind, we might even take a day to go over to Flocessy for that. I hear they have a nice park."

"That'd be fun! I'll have to make a special lunch for that."

And that was another very good reason to go along with it. "Whatever you want to make. You might even get a taste for traveling doing that."

"Oh," she clutched her basket tighter, looking down. "Well, it might be fun for you guys, but I'm not sure I want to travel like that. Maybe get another Pokemon but," her voice trailed away as she spoke, but she must not have wanted to seem gloomy as she looked back up and tried to smile again. "Actually, I wanted to stay here when I get older, and learn to be a great chef like mom. I can make lots of people and Pokemon happy that way."

Even as she tried to put a brave face on it, Hugh still hated seeing her sad like that. He knew other guys his age that might gripe about girls her age, especially little sisters, as being annoying. Sometimes he did get annoyed at what she did, but he could never let that feeling stay. He needed to protect her and make her happy. Because after what happened a few years back, Hugh knew he couldn't forgive himself if he let her get hurt like that again. Yes, leaving her would make her a little sad initially. But in the end, she was trying to be happy for him and he wanted to redeem himself from his first big failure.

To keep the morning from being too gloomy, he accepted her change of topic. "I'm sure you can. You make me happy any time you say that you're going to bake now."

Violet laughed. "I know, because you still try to eat things before they've properly cooled down. I swear, one of these days you're going to burn all the tastebuds on your tongue away permanently."

Hugh put on a look of mock horror. "That must be the worst fate ever! But some cookies just taste best hot from the oven."

"I can't imagine how that would be when they scorch your mouth." But her smile let him know that she wasn't mad at him.

Aside from fighting a few wild Pokemon on the way (Vino made short work of them), nothing much happened on their way to the berry patch. Violet went immediately to searching through the bushes for ripe berries, checking on how many of a kind there were before picking a bunch. Apparently the poffin recipe didn't need a lot of berries, but she wanted to try several varieties to see how they all were. Hugh tried to get Vino to pick out a berry he liked for his poffin, although the Snivy seemed not hungry and indifferent to most. He did try to pull a Nomel berry from a small bush hiding in back of the area, so Hugh pointed his sister out to that one.

"Wow, I didn't think Nomel grew well around here," she said, looking over the bush. "I wonder how these all got planted here. I hope they don't belong to someone else."

"I don't think anyone owns this land," Hugh said.

"Still... well, I might be able to get enough for one poffin." She started picking through the branches.

While she did that, Hugh continued to keep an eye on things. There was another kid who had come onto the Route to fight wild Pokemon with his own. Taylor, he thought it was. Probably the best battler for the kids under ten, but more because he kept his Lillipup despite his losses where other kids might release a Pokemon after a loss or two. It was a real shame that they'd give up on a Pokemon so soon, so Hugh rather liked Taylor. Once the kid actually thought about how and why he battled rather than just doing whatever because training Pokemon was a way to be cool, he might actually be a decent competitor. For now, it was hard to even call him talented.

Then a man came out of Aspertia's gatehouse. He seemed quite odd because he was trying to be inconspicuous in an all too conspicuous manner. Wearing an outfit that covered him from head to toe in black or gray, with even a black scarf tied around his face and over his black hair, he might have done well in hiding if it were night and if he tried to stick to the shadows. Instead, he was here out in the sunny morning, walking openly along the route. Maybe he was just someone who liked to dress up in costume? But it seemed a strange time and place to be doing that.

The man went over to Taylor and challenged him to a battle. That was fairly normal; Trainers often battled each other when they got close (especially if eye contact was made), which was part of why Hugh was staying out of the area Taylor was training in. On watching them, Hugh noted that the Patrat and Rattata that the would-be ninja had seemed quite strong. But they were still low level Pokemon, so it wasn't that exciting of a battle to be an audience of.

At the end of it, though, things took a turn for the worse. The man had won, keeping his Rattata at his side. The Pokemon was still in a posture of readiness, waiting for an order to attack. "Face it: you're not worthy of being a Trainer," the man said.

"What a jerk," Hugh muttered to himself. Sure, Taylor wasn't great, but he was just a kid. His efforts couldn't be brushed aside after a single loss, especially when he gave more effort than his peers.

"I, I'm trying," Taylor said, clutching his Pokeball to his chest and stepping back.

"Trying is not enough," the man said, coming towards him. "You and that Pokemon would be better off if you handed it over to me, so do that, right now."

Creeping alongside him, the Rattata made a threatening, if squeaky, call.

"Hey, jackass!" Hugh snapped, stomping through the grass to get between the man and Taylor. "You've got no right to be doing that to anybody, especially not a kid! You're no better than those pompous idiots that were in Team Plasma."

"Don't you dare talk bad about us!" the man yelled, glaring at him. He then realized his mistake and tried clumsily to get past it. "I mean, Team Plasma. You can't even see the noble ways of us, I mean, them. You..." he struggled a bit to find his words.

That just incited his anger further. "You're one of them? What hole did you crawl out of? Plasma's been dead for two years."

"Not dead, just..." he clenched his fist. "Whatever, Rattata, after him!"

"Vino!" Hugh called.

He didn't even have to call out an order. The Snivy bolted forward, catching the Rattata before it even got close, slamming it into the ground, and then hurling it with a backflip back at the would-be thief's feet unconscious. It disappeared half a second later, and Taylor's Lillipup had taken care of the Patrat. Landing on his feet, Vino gave the Plasma grunt a threatening look, although not nearly as vicious as the one the Rattata had.

Coming closer, Hugh felt like rearranging this guy's face. Normally the end of a Pokemon battle signaled the end of an argument, with no aggression continued. But to hell with politeness and decorum. If he was authentic, this guy and any others from Team Plasma didn't deserve that. "By your own logic, now you don't deserve to have those Pokemon you have," he said. "So why don't you do as you say first and let your Pokemon go free? Then I have something I need to know from you."

"My duty to fulfill our mission is more important than that," the man said. Then, he took off running to the east.

Without even thinking about it, Hugh ran after him. "Hey, get back here!"

"Hugh!" Violet called out, but he hardly paid attention. The members of Team Plasma had disappeared and gone into hiding after their downfall. This was his first real chance at a break in the case.

* * *

Rosa spotted Nate and Ruby coming out of the Pokecenter, so she stopped and waved to him. "Hey, Nate! Good morning!"

"Good morning," he said, sounding cheerful. "You heading out to train today too?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I've got time for that, and to get my homework done tomorrow easily. Want to come with me? Maybe we can go further out today."

"That would be good," he said, turned to walk north to the gate. Rosa followed beside him, with Bard going over to ask for a hug. Nate picked the Oshawott up and carried him. "I believe these two are getting too strong to get good experience nearby anymore. Although I wish I had the means to test their intrinsic talents better so that we knew where they would be naturally strong and weak, and then adjust their training around that."

Huh? Rosa tried to think through that, but it didn't sound right in her head. He spoke it like it was a natural thing. "What? You sound more like you're talking about a Pokemon video game, not actual training."

"Oh, well, I guess," he said. In his arms, Bard also seemed puzzled. He took off his shell and tapped Nate in the forehead with it. "That's what I would have done before, but then they weren't this close," He gently pushed away Bard's shell before patting his head and putting him down. Then Nate sighed.

"No really, what is it?" Rosa asked. Sometimes he could be so moody. Sure, he was her friend, but at times like this she wondered how much she really knew about him.

"You wouldn't believe me, just like the rest," Nate said, shaking his head. "Don't mind it. To you, it's not that important anyhow."

"Aw come on, you don't know that," she said, moving ahead so she could cut him off. "Just tell me what's bothering you." When he still seemed uncertain, she added, "I trust you. No matter how weird it is, I'll believe you."

"You should be careful saying things like that," he said. "We only met a few months ago, after all. You could get in real trouble believing in someone so blindly."

Rosa shrugged. "Maybe. But, I have a hunch. I don't think you'd lie to me."

At Nate's feet, Ruby looked up to him, then rubbed her head against his leg as a sign of support. He sighed again, then looked her straight in the eyes. "Rosa... I remembered more about where I came from. Actually, I knew some of it from the start, but then... the place I came from, there were no Pokemon. The only place you could find them were in video games. My mind got scrambled getting here, but when I remembered about Pokemon, it was what I had learned in those games, not with flesh and blood Pokemon like these two. Not only that, but the way I got here was through one of those games."

It was a crazy thing; the world was more complex than a video game, after all. But, she'd already said that she'd believe him, and he didn't seem to be lying. Besides, it was better to be cheerful and friendly; she lived by that. "Wow, so you already know what's going to happen because you're in a game you played before? That'll be helpful! That is, if you remember in time."

He shook his head. "Not quite that. The game wasn't one I've played. But when I hear of experience or levels, I'm more familiar with the numbers and formulas used in the game. I have no clue if those are reliable here."

"Yeah, you might want to be careful of that." She noticed a boy run by from the gatehouse, but didn't pay heed to it. She tilted her head at Nate. "Well, that is pretty weird and I can see why the doctors and them all would think you were crazy. But if that's what you say, that's what I'll believe until there's proof otherwise."

"Thanks." Nate said. "Do you think...?"

"Rosa, Nate!" Violet came running from the gatehouse, looking scared. There was a basket of berries in her hand, but other than her expression she didn't seem hurt.

"What happened?" Rosa said, turning to her friend. "You seem pale."

"It's Hugh, I'm worried," she said, looking back to the gatehouse. "There was this man dressed all in black out there bullying Taylor, and he seemed to be from Team Plasma. He was even trying to take Taylor's Lillipup, but Hugh and Vino beat him, then they took off towards Flocessy chasing after him. I don't know if he really was a Plasma, but if he is, they used to never travel alone. Taylor said he was going to tell the police, but Hugh could be in trouble. I was taking a risk just coming back here alone because of the wild Pokemon, as I couldn't come with him."

"Hugh's good, but that would be trouble if he runs into a group like them," Rosa said. Then she grabbed Nate's arm. "Come on, let's go after them! We can't waste time."

"But," Nate started to say, but Rosa didn't wait to hear him argue against it. She ran to the gatehouse, with Bard soon in a hopping run to keep up with her. Nate and Ruby decided to run after them.

"Be careful!" Violet called after them.

Rosa ran through the gatehouse, avoiding crashing into a man watching the electronic bulletin. She then headed out on Route 19, taking a right to follow it to Flocessy. Thankfully, any wild Pokemon seemed to scatter on seeing them come through like that. But as they reached the cliff that stood just outside of Floccesy, Rosa slowed down. There weren't any signs of Hugh. How far ahead had they gotten? The road to the next town was a straight shot, but what about Flocessy itself?

And it wasn't just that question bothering her. It was quite some distance between Aspertia and Flocessy; not as much as between other towns in Unova, but it had been maybe fifteen or even twenty minutes that she'd been running. It was a bit much; how much further could Hugh and the possible Plasma thief go? Hugh didn't lose his temper often, but Rosa could imagine how he would blow up at the guy.

Nate and Ruby finally got up to her side. "That's the town ahead, right?" he asked. "We can ask around there if they've seen him. There isn't any other way to go, after all."

"Yeah. Sorry for running right off, but it's Hugh."

"It might have been good to think a moment, but as it is, we might still catch up to them," Nate said in encouragement. That was cheering.

"Hey kids!" a voice called from above. Looking up, they saw a man in a long yellow coat and wild red hair. "What's the commotion?"

"We're not sure," Rosa called back. "But we're looking for a friend who probably just passed by here, chasing a man in black. Did you see them?"

"Can't say that I have." Then, the man jumped down off the cliff, even though it had to be twenty feet up at least; a Volcarona and Braviary followed him. "Something this way agitated one of my Pokemon, so I came to see. But it's not like I can understand them exactly."

Now that he was down here, Rosa recognized him. "Oh, Mr. Alder?"

"Are you all right, old man?" Nate asked looking at him in disbelief.

"Right as rain," Alder said, smiling. "You're only as old as you feel, you know. And please, don't bother with the mister. Now you two," he gave them a critical look, both the teenagers and the two Pokemon with them. "You're both Trainers, but novices at that. Did you just start out?"

"Well, not really, but sort of," Rosa said. "We've been doing some training, but we weren't going to start out from Aspertia until later. It's just..."

"Our friend Hugh has gone after a man who tried to take a boy's Pokemon," Nate interrupted. "We thought we'd catch up to them in this town."

He turned serious at that, nodding. "Is that so? I shouldn't delay you then. Rather, I'll ask around about them too. Come on." With that, Alder waved to his two Pokemon and headed into town with them.

"Who's that?" Nate asked in a quiet voice as they entered Flocessy.

Rosa seemed surprised at the question, but then must have remembered what they had talked about earlier. "Oh, that's Alder; he was the League Champion of Unova for many years, off and on. He's so well respected that if something happens to the current Champion, he's the first one they ask to take over, always. I had heard that he lived around here, but I've never met him."

With Alder's help, they started talking to the townspeople. They could certainly confirm that Hugh and the thief had come through, but although the pair had spent some time running through town, they had already left. It didn't sound good, but in hopes of finding Hugh, the search continued onto Route 20. There, through some trees, Rosa heard some voices. "This isn't what we're supposed to be doing, that's what I'm saying," a woman hissed.

A man answered, sounding winded. "That punk... chased me... all the way... from Aspertia. We should do something..."

Trying not to call attention to herself from the people talking, Rosa waved her hand high and got the attention of Nate and Alder. She then went between the trees carefully, trying not to make noise. The woman spoke again, getting louder. "But this? We shouldn't just change tactics on a whim."

And there, in a small opening on a footpath, was a man dressed all in black and gray, like Violet had said. With him were a woman dressed similarly and Hugh and Vino lying on the ground near them, not moving. The man of the pair was sitting on a stump "What was... I supposed to do? I tried every trick in the book and couldn't shake him. Since he's here, let's do it."

"And escalate this?" the woman said as Nate and Alder joined Rosa. "Honestly, recklessness got Team Plasma decimated and we don't need more of it. We'd do better just to take his Pokemon and leave him at this point."

"Call the emergency number to get some back-up here," Alder said. After he gave a signal to his two Pokemon, he stepped out onto the pathway. "You'd do better to give up at this point," he told them. "I've heard enough to know that you two are behind the recent string of Pokemon disappearances around here."

The woman tensed, clenching a fist. Then she glowered at the man. "We're not saying anything," she said. "Except this: the two of us will not admit defeat, unlike a certain traitor long ago."

Oddly, Alder seemed to understand that. "You weren't there; I was. And I don't believe you understand the situation." He had his Pokemon keep an eye on the two thieves, then checked on Hugh and Vino.

It seemed like a bad end, Rosa thought, but as long as Hugh survived, it could still turn out all right.


	7. On the Trail of a Missing Legend

April 11

Flocessy Town

The police wanted to ask them questions, but they did get Hugh and Vino sent to the hospital and Pokecenter respectively first. Rosa didn't feel like they'd done much. But, maybe they had acted fast enough to save them from something worse, like Hugh losing Vino. Once the interviews were done, there was a surprise when Alder invited them to his house to talk for a little while.

Alder's house was warm and sunny, decorated with fabrics of bright colors and patterns. But it was all natural and not overwhelming, a kind of style that had originated in a region southwest from here. He offered to share lunch with them, chatting while cooking up some sausage, peppers, and onions. Rosa and Nate helped out a little while their Pokemon got acquainted with the ones Alder kept around.

"Do you think those two were really from Team Plasma?" Rosa asked as she finished up with the onion. "Because I thought they'd broken up two years ago."

"They're likely stragglers who have evaded capture, but are still stuck in the past," Alder said. "Although there aren't many, they aren't the only ones. Most of the organization is either serving sentences or living with rehabilitation support. Plasma looked harmless on the outside for a long while, but inside they had a ruthless core that damaged a good many of their members as well as those on the outside. A lot of them had no idea what to do when things fell apart because it had taken over their lives."

Taken over their lives? The Plasma members had seemed on the fanatical side, and they were hard to understand. "That sounds bad, and tough on them," she said. "I didn't think they were hurting themselves."

"There were a few very corrupt members that hurt everyone else, taking advantage of their belief in the group," Alder said.

"What did they meant about a traitor?" Nate asked, thinking as usual. "And, you were there when they fell apart?"

Alder nodded. "Of course; it's pretty well known, some parts of the story at least."

"I'm not from around here," he explained, rubbing his head. "And, I've been dealing with some kind of brain damage, so I really don't know."

"Sorry to hear about that," Alder said. "A kid like you shouldn't be dealing with something like that. It's a long story, but if you'd like to know..."

"Yes, it's important to why I'm here, I believe," Nate said.

The former Champion looked him over again, then smiled and turned back to stir-frying the vegetables. "If you're serious about finding answers, I don't mind sharing them. As I said, it's a long story and I don't know all of it, but... there was a young man in charge of Team Plasma. He had been a few years older than the two of you now, but his life had been carefully controlled by the more malicious members of Plasma. But even living under such a corrupted influence, he was a good person of a pure innocent heart. And there aren't many that I'd describe that way; he really was something special.

"Part of their plan was for him to travel around Unova gathering Gym Badges, for reputation in the public eye and proof of his dedication to his cause. On that journey, he met with many people, including myself, that opened his eyes to his real ideals, and the truth behind his situation. It was difficult for him to accept this, but eventually he did."

"Oh, you're talking about when Hilda, Hilbert, and Reshiram defeated N and Zekrom?" Rosa asked. "We told Nate about that."

Alder nodded. "That was what happened. That defeat was something he couldn't fool himself with, and he accepted it with grace. I think relief too, as the doubt caused by his inconsistencies were cleared up when he accepted that he didn't have to go as far as to separate humans and Pokemon. That is what the stragglers from Plasma would consider a betrayal, I believe. But, the real betrayal was just after that, when Ghetsis, the one who had been manipulating N, lost his temper at that defeat and took it out on him. I didn't see that myself, but I heard about the aftermath of it on N; it had been a deep blow psychologically, but even so, he had real friends to help him and he'd matured enough that it didn't cripple him entirely."

"I hadn't heard all about that, but I only saw what was on the news," Rosa said. "Bianca told us some of it a while ago, because Nate's trying to find Hilda. She had something to do with why he's here now..." she looked to her friend, whose mind seemed to be wandering again. "Although we're not sure why. It's a weird situation."

"It's starting to sound that way," Alder said. "You're after Hilda? I hope you can find her; it's a shame that she managed to disappear and nobody realized it until too late. She had a lot of friends and talked with many of us often."

"She was here," Nate said, still with his mind off in space or something. "She came here to see you... the week before she disappeared." He looked over at Alder. "What did she talk with you about?"

"She saw me that soon before she was gone?" Alder asked. "Well..." he paused, focusing on making lunch for a few moments before answering, "I don't think it was anything important, but I remember that. It was... in June, early June. I might be able to pin down a date if I look at some things. When she was here..."

…

Hilda seemed energetic as usual, even though she'd lost the Championship a few days ago. "Iris and her Pokemon did a great job, and I held onto the title for a year," she explained, taking the moment to brush her Cinccino's long fur. "And I had more challenges than you did your last year, so I'm pretty happy with it. Of course, about a quarter of them were from Cheren before he got all serious about school."

"He's still improved a lot," Alder said. "I think he can make it."

"Yeah, me too."

"Then what are your plans now?" he asked. Curious about it, he added, "I've heard a rumor that you can understand Pokemon clearly like N did. Make use of that?"

Hilda shrugged. "I can understand them, because of a gift. I thought about using it while we were working on undoing the damage done with Plasma's propaganda, but I've been holding off on letting a lot of people know. Maybe I'll do research someday by talking to Pokemon and hearing out their side of things, to report to everyone else. But not now. I want to keep traveling, all over the world! There's so many neat sights and places I'd like to see."

Hearing that reminded him of traveling the world in his younger days. It had been great, an experience he'd never forget. "That's a great thing to do when you're young. You can get a lot of insight into the world by seeing it in different places."

"Yeah," she said, although not quite as excited as he expected. "The thing is, I can't leave Unova right now, so I can't get myself all excited about it quite yet."

"Why not? You don't have responsibilities to stay."

"Actually, I do," she said, glancing over at Kyurem, who was looking through a book nearby. "N and Hilbert are still out of the region with Zekrom and Reshiram and until they return, Kyurem needs to stay. And I don't want to leave him to that himself right now."

"Things are quiet, but until we know what happened to Ghetsis, I don't want to leave even for a little while," Kyurem said. "You may as well tell him about Keldeo."

She nodded. "Right! Since we're free now, we're going to explore around and see if we can't figure out where Keldeo is. The other three defenders and Meloetta still say that they can feel his presence but haven't encountered or heard from him in the past two years. As he's a native to Unova, Kyurem can sense Keldeo too, but can't pinpoint him either until we come close to each other."

"This would be a good time to focus on that," Alder agreed. "Actually, there's a place just a few minutes walk close to here that is important to him, and the other three. Would it help if you went there?"

"Possibly," Kyurem said.

"It'd be neat to see," Hilda added.

…

"I didn't notice anything wrong with them at the time," Alder said. "So that was the week she disappeared? How do you know?"

Nate had his hand on his forehead. "I remember something she had told me, just now. But it wasn't much, most importantly that."

"Are you okay?" Rosa asked, worried that he might have another headache.

"Mostly," he said, putting his hand down. "Don't worry. That place you showed her, mind if we go see it?"

"No trouble to me," Alder replied. "We can go after lunch."

When they were done eating and making some quick clean-ups, Alder led Nate and Rosa to a small almost hidden trail that ran alongside his house. One way seemed to lead to the ledge they had first seen him on, but the opposite way went into the woods north of Flocessy. It was a nice area, leading to a really beautiful meadow in the woods. The spring wildflowers were going nuts here, making the green of the grass almost hard to see. Tall trees blocked out sight and sound of the town. With some wild Pokemon playing at one end of the meadow and others singing and calling in the trees, it was a surprising example of nature's beauty.

But it wasn't just the pretty setting that set this meadow apart. Across from the path, there was a massive boulder standing alone. At twenty feet high and with steep sides, it didn't seem like something that'd be easy to climb. There were four large marks on the side of the boulder facing the path, marks that seemed strangely like the cuts of very sharp swords in a crisscrossing pattern. But these marks were so large that it couldn't be any ordinary sword to mark it like that.

"Wow, I didn't think the rock would be this big!" Rosa said, running over to touch it. The lowest point of the slashes came to her eye level.

"It's been here for thousands of years," Alder said. "They've proven it with dating the material recently. But the part that's a legend, maybe real... it is said that at this place, Reshiram and Zekrom acknowledged three great heroes who were Pokemon. They raised up these three to become fellow guardians of the land, Virizion, Terrakion, and Cobalion. The three swore an oath to protect the Pokemon of Unova by slashing the rock with their newfound power. Sometime later, the three of them were joined by a fourth swordsmon, Keldeo, who had helped with rescuing many Pokemon from a massive fire that had been started by humans during a war.

"That incident caused the original three to turn against humans and for a time, they led a war against us. But the twin dragons forced a truce, allowing Virizion, Terrakion, and Cobalion to set aside certain places to be for Pokemon alone. The three swordsmons have guarded these places ever since and are rarely seen by humans. But the fourth, Keldeo... he was never bitter against humans. He took to traveling through Unova, still following the oath he swore by adding a fourth mark here. He would defend weaker Pokemon from whatever endangered them, but he avoided using his skills against humans as much as he could. And then in recent years, there was an incident..."

When he trailed off, Rosa turned to them. Alder had come up by the boulder, but Nate seemed to be half listening and half looking around the meadow. Interested, she asked, "What kind of incident? I heard that something had happened to Keldeo. I remember when Cheren and Hilbert came to Aspertia to talk to Tornadus about it. But I didn't hear much but rumors after."

"Meloetta had been kidnapped and sold to a genetic scientist, then Keldeo was captured trying to rescue her," Alder said, looking up at the rock. "His powers as an immortal were stolen from him. They were held captive in an area of the Virbank Complex for twenty-five years. Those two boys did rescue them, but then it took an even stranger turn when Keldeo was taken by... a mysterious but powerful stranger. Hilda said that the other legendaries of Unova can feel the presence of Keldeo's power again, but don't know where he is. Maybe her disappearance is linked to his."

Feeling hopeful, Rosa smiled. "Oh, so if we find one of them, we might find the other. Isn't that great, Nate?"

But Nate seemed to be overtaken by a strange mood, like when he had been on the overlook. He had been asking about this and Alder had said no one was sure what happened, but Nate now spoke as if he was experiencing a strong memory. "Keldeo was missing for twenty-five years, only to be found and lost again. They still sense him because he was sent back in time by that stranger to be reborn around fifteen years ago ago. But the new one's power was buried deep, only to start budding when the old one was freed, so it was always hidden, barely in the open now."

And then he kept talking.

…

Lightning broke through the darkness, illuminating an empty field in a forest. A boulder with slashes crisscrossing it stood at the edge of the small opening. Thunder rumbled the trees, and then a second bolt of lighting struck. This time, there were two figures standing before the rock.

Keldeo backed off, still growling. His mind was hazy and it was slow to think through things. But in the smell of this person, he found something that he did not trust. Some instability, some corruption... linked to an incredible amount of power that would be difficult to tame even with a stable mind. Normally in a rain like this, he would be at his most alert. Maybe he even was now. But the strangely aged body he was in slipped in the mud, making his stance weak.

"You really have been ruined, so now you must not trust anyone," the person said. He looked human, but couldn't be human. The lightning glared off his green ponytail, as well as the white and black scales on his arms. Although it was dark and raining, he brought out a device and placed a Pokeball in it. "But why would you trust him? Is it just because he was one of the ones who rescued you? From what I know, he was only seeking glory." The device clicked and the Pokeball went inactive.

Without any more warning, Keldeo felt a sharp sickness in his body. The disorientation was enough to make him collapse into the mud, struggling to breathe. Whatever the Pokeball technology did, it had been supporting him in a way that was gone now.

The young man gasped and dropped down onto his hands and knees, ignoring the mud getting on him. "Keldeo? What happened. Oh, you're still weakened. But I can do something about that." He raised his hands over Keldeo, a green glow appearing beneath him. "I just hope this doesn't go wrong... I want to set something right for once. I'll restore your power."

And his energy changed, bringing back a familiar power that brought clarity and depth into his mind. Keldeo looked up and wondered what was going on. Why had he been depowered, and who was this person repowering him? He could recall Meloetta sitting by him, holding his head in her lap and hugging him. Everything else...

He didn't have time to consider it all, as this body could no longer support him. He died physically, but his spirit emerged, still healing. But could that process be completed like this? Uncertain of what else to do, Keldeo submitted himself to the mercy of the world. There were powers greater than his, and they would guide him in the right direction.

…

Like before, Nate's speech ended in pain for him, making him close his eyes tight and cover his eyes. But Rosa and Alder had already come over to him. "Careful, don't hurt yourself," Alder said, taking his arm.

"Did one of those premonitions happen again, Nate?" Rosa asked.

"Ugh, what was I talking about?" Nate asked in a strained voice.

"He should still have some medicine from the hospital for this," she told Alder.

The older man nodded. "Good. Let's bring him back to my house; I can spare a room for him."

Back at Alder's house, they put Nate in a guest room; Rosa found his medicine while Alder closed the curtains to block out the sun. Ruby was determined to stay with him, and neither of them would deny the Tepig that. "Thanks for watching over him," Rosa said to Alder later on. "I'll let the people taking care of him know that he's here, but I'd really better get back to Aspertia to talk to Hugh's family, if they don't know yet."

"It's no trouble," Alder said. "But when you two are closer to heading out, you might want to stop by again. I might have some things to let the two of you know."

"Sure," she said, smiling. But, there was something on her mind. "Although with what happened today... do you think it's possible that Nate is actually Keldeo?"

"What makes you think that?" he asked, with interest instead of doubt.

Rosa put her hand to her cheek. "Well, it's a weird story, but... you know a bit of it already. Nate showed up in Aspertia back in December, with a really scrambled memory and intelligence. He even forgot almost entirely about Pokemon, but then turned out to know a whole lot about them. The doctors thought it was an accident with Teleport, and that might be part of his current problems. But even though he doesn't remember much, he knew right off that he was supposed to find and help Hilda somehow. Now we know that she was looking for Keldeo when she disappeared, so maybe she found him but something else happened. I don't know. But what he just remembered, who else would know about it other than Keldeo and that mysterious person?"

"Hmm... it's a possibility. We know that the legendary Pokemon can take human forms if they choose, and if he's been like this the past fifteen years as he suggests, that would explain why nobody could find him." Then Alder shrugged. "But it's just a theory now. Are you going to help your friend with his search for Hilda and himself?"

She nodded. "Of course. I haven't known him for long, but I still want to help him."

"That's good. But don't let him know of this theory of ours just yet. Wait until he remembers for himself. If seeing the rock triggered memories, then other places around Unova might trigger more."

"That's the plan!" Rosa said, feeling optimistic. While this theory didn't explain why he talked about playing Pokemon video games and recalled entering this world through one, the idea seemed compelling. It could even link back into what he saw at the overlook, as he would feel a natural affinity to water (thus receiving the sign as a forgotten truth).

It could almost be anything as it was now.


	8. Creepy Sunkern Eyes

April 14

Aspertia

It was a foggy morning when Nate knocked on the door to Rosa's house. He looked for a moment at the windchime nearby. Structured like a double helix, it had two golden spirals each holding onto a number to thin metal chimes. In the center, there was a golden chain with several prismatic crystals along it. It was quite pretty with a delicate sound.

Rosa's mother answered the door. "Good morning, Nate," she said, opening the door for him. "Come on in for a little while. You too, Ruby."

"Thanks," he said, giving a small wave as he came in. "I came to meet up with Rosa here so we could head out together."

She nodded. "Sure; she's in her room at the moment getting things today. Rosa, Nate's here!"

"Okay!" she called. "I'll be there in a bit."

She chuckled. "She said she was ready last night, so hopefully she won't be long. I do have something I want to give you before you head out. Here you are Nate." She handed over a box.

The blue and gray cover surprised him. Was it really that? He opened up the box and found a new Xtransceiver inside, a black and gray model that seemed masculine in design. "Really, are you sure about this? I hope it didn't cost a lot."

"Don't worry about it," Janine said. "I'm sure it will be valuable to you, not only in making calls but also in keeping track of your Pokemon and many other things. I've got it connected to our account so it was practically free; I just made sure to put on some apps that are useful to Trainers. Activate it and we'll make sure my number and Rosa's are in the address book."

While they were checking it out, Rosa came in with her travel bag. Bard was riding along on her shoulder. "Oh hey, like your present?" she asked, coming over to sit with them. "I need to get your number in mine, in case we get separated or something."

"Sure, this will be a big help," Nate said, shifting through the screens so he could find his number. "Are you ready to head out?"

"Yeah!" she said, followed by an equally excited cheer from her Oshawott. "I mean, we're not really heading out yet, but it's the start. Bye Mom; we'll be seeing you in a week." She then hugged her Mom.

"See you then, dear," Janine said.

On her other shoulder, Bard crowed, "Eeee shoo!" and blew a kiss at Janine.

She laughed. "Thank you Bard; I'll miss you too. You two watch out for each other, and be sure to treat your Pokemon well."

"We will," Nate said, ending up with a hug from Janine as well. Then they headed out of the house to trek across Aspertia to Route 19.

A block away, they came across Violet pacing around in front of her home. She acted surprised when Rosa greeted her, then came up to them. The fog swirled with the movement of everyone. "Oh, are you two headed out?" Violet asked. "Could I ask a favor of you?"

"Sure, what is it?" Rosa asked. Although she'd do whatever Violet asked without needing anything in return. The two girls often helped each other and just because she was leaving was no reason to stop.

Violet smiled. "Thanks. I was going to make sure Hugh had a map of Unova on his Xtransceiver, but I thought he'd stick around to say goodbye this morning. But, he was gone well before the rest of us were up. Here, you two can both have a copy too."

"I don't remember if I got that," Rosa said, turning on her Xtransceiver to check. "But sure, if we have it, we'll make sure he does too."

"Great!" As it turned out, Nate's new model did have the map on it, as part of the app package he had gotten with it. But Rosa's didn't, so she got it from Violet's. They could transfer it to Hugh when they caught up with him. "I hope you get some more great Pokemon to travel with."

By the time they reached Flocessy again, the fog had thinned greatly. Flocessy was an oddly mixed town. There were modern apartments that housed many who worked in Virbank or even Castelia, but there were also older houses like Alder's which were a motley collection of many styles and fashions. In the middle of town, there was a large park with a showy flower garden and a squat stone monolith that had a clock face on each side.

In the northern part of town, up a large set of stairs that led to a higher plateau, they found Alder outside his house, running his Pokemon through some exercises in his front yard. "Hello!" Rosa called out. "How's it going?"

He gave them a big smile and a friendly wave as they stopped by the fence surrounding his yard. "Hello, you two. It's going just fine. You doing all right? How about your friend?"

Rosa lifted herself on the edge to the fence. "We're good; we're heading out for a few days to work with our Pokemon before Cheren opens up his Gym. Hugh's much better, although he took off before us."

Alder had come over to the fence by them; the gate was already open. "Well that's good to hear. I heard some news about the two thieves we caught then. Like I thought, they seem to be former Plasma members working on their own. They were plotting on disrupting Trainers in this area to continue their work. Once word got around, I heard of other young Trainers who had been pressured by them to give up training. But with them out, that should be over with."

"Well it's good to know they were stopped," Rosa said.

"Right, that's the important thing. Well since you're here, why don't you stay for the morning?" Alder winked. "Might even learn something new while you're at it."

"Sure, that'd be great!" Rosa said, dropping back onto the ground. After all, Alder was recognized throughout Unova as a master among Trainers even when he wasn't officially with the Pokemon League. Anything he had to teach would certainly be valuable. She entered the yard with Nate.

"Just don't put your expectations too high," Alder said, walking back to the center of the yard with them, where his Bouffalant was standing and chewing on grass. "Many of the secrets to good training can be summed up simply to never forget the basics and always treat your Pokemon with love." He looked back to them, watching Bard on Rosa's shoulder and Ruby walking beside Nate. "And just looking at your two Pokemon like this, I can tell you're taking good care of them. They're nice and alert, trusting you a great deal already."

"Alder," Nate said, in his serious tones again, "they seemed to start very trusting and caring. Is this common? Because I hardly had Ruby with me for ten minutes when I had one of those headaches, and she was concerned enough that she stayed by my side and wouldn't return to her Pokeball until I told her that it was gone. I'm not sure how she could have connected with me so quickly."

"Well you are right in that it was quick with you two," Alder said. "Most Pokemon will want you to prove yourself before putting full trust in you as their Trainer. But then, she might be a highly caring individual and there are some times when a Pokemon and human will connect almost immediately because their personalities mesh well."

Nate looked down at Ruby; in Rosa's opinion, Ruby smiled back as she wagged her tail. "I really do appreciate her being like that," Nate said, his voice warm now.

"It's good to be friends with them," Alder said. "But there's a lot more to it than just that. Have you two battled each other yet?"

"Oh, no we haven't," Rosa said. "I hadn't thought about doing that."

He nodded and stepped back, pointing them to the yard. "Then how about you give it a try? I can revive whichever Pokemon falls, so don't be afraid for them. And mine will be polite and just watch."

"Are you okay with that?" Rosa asked Nate.

He nodded and headed away to face her. "Right. People have told me that it is traditional for Pokemon Trainers to battle each other, to get to know each other. And we know that we're here to help each other, so it's fine. Right Ruby?"

"Gru ta!" the Tepig replied happily, briefly hopping up on her hind legs.

On the other end of the field Bard whirled around, flinging his shell up into the air and catching it as he stopped. "Shaaa!"

Alder laughed at that with them. "Good to know they're friends as well. On your mark, ready?" He glanced at both of them and on seeing their nods, he swept his arm out dramatically. "Begin!"

* * *

Pinwheel Forest

"Another win, good," he mumbled, making some notes on his tablet.

"Yeah, well I was going easy on you," the teenaged boy who had faced him insisted.

"Much to the contrary, I think," he said, taking a moment to heal up one of his Pokemon. Then he swapped out the Magnemite for his Elgyem. "Now, mind if I ask you a few questions about how you work with Pokemon?"

The boy gave him a quizzical look. "What, so are you one of the quiz people? Who are you?"

He tapped his stylus against the tablet. "My name is Colress, and I'm a scientist. Asking questions is a basic foundation of acquiring knowledge. Now then, how often do you speak to your Pokemon outside of battle?"

Showing himself to not be of a scientific mind, the boy did not seem to recognize any significance in the question. But at least he answered it. "Outside of battle? I tell them how they're doing in training, but you don't need any more."

"Mmhmm," Colress acknowledged getting the answer and tapped 'Seldom' on his form. "Do you keep your Pokemon outside of its ball when not battling or training them?"

He snorted. "No, that's just for girls and sentimentalists."

Such a boorish answer, indicative of a narrow-sighted person. "Must hold on to the pretense of masculinity, is that it? If it suits you. No, that wasn't a question on the list. Do you give your Pokemon items or boosters to make them stronger?"

"No, those are scams," he replied. "I knew a guy who was cheated out of nearly ten thousand Poke for a cheaply made accessory that hardly did anything. I ain't a fool."

"Caution can be a wise course," Colress said, writing down 'nothing' for all item and booster related questions. "Okay then... how often do you train your Pokemon? I'd prefer an hours per week rating, if you can guess your average."

"Uh..." he thought about it. "Well I have a part-time job and I've stuck with school rather than going on a self-study route. I guess about eight hours a week? Cause I do a little training in the evenings, but mostly on off days like this."

"All right," he said, marking the third lowest group. As he was finding things, that still put this guy in the casual Trainer group. "Is there anything particular about your training routine?"

"Most Trainers don't like revealing their secrets," the boy said, frowning.

Colress waved away that concern. "Most 'secret' methods are really no different from what is commonplace. But if you're really touchy about it, a general idea of how you go about things will be fine."

"Oh, in that case, I mostly battle wild Pokemon and Trainers around here."

"Nothing really special," Colress murmured as he checked off one of the boxes that didn't require extra notes.

"What'd you say?" the boy asked, unsure if he should feel insulted.

"It's for the sake of science," he said. "Nothing personal. How do you choose which Pokemon to use on your team?"

"I just take ones I like from around here." After giving a moment of extra thought, he shrugged. "I mean, if one of mine is losing too much, I'll let it go and look for another one. I'm not one of those jerks who keeps Pokemon in digital boxes. I learned about that mistake a couple of years back."

Colress tapped his stylus against his chin before starting on notes. Novice mistakes there, but he was finding them to be extraordinarily commonplace. Hearing that Team Plasma had indeed influenced the way people in Unova thought about Pokemon, even in such a small way... well, he hadn't been a part of them back then, but it would still help even with the re-aimed efforts.

"I think I get the picture," Colress told the boy. "Thank you for the battle, and for answering my questions. It's been useful."

"Right, I hope so," the boy said before heading off. "Weirdo," he added, in a voice he probably thought couldn't be overhead.

Colress put his hand against his ear; of course he heard, he was wearing an earpiece that amplified and filtered sounds, as well as eyeglasses that could record and magnify what he saw. The insult didn't bother him. For his whole life, he had been set apart thanks to his intelligence and thought patterns. Since he understood that as well as why others would be jealous, their attempts at stings meant nothing.

In fact, he was more concerned about the interview results. He caused his computer to replay parts of the battle on the tablet. "Unsurprising answers from him," he said to himself. "With no attempt to strengthen his Pokemon and little effort into their training, combined with switching those that lose battles, he will never be a strong Trainer."

"Beh," the Elgyem said, shaking his large head.

"Exactly." Colress added the recorded battle and the interview to his files, then checked on how his sorted experimental groups were coming along. "At this rate, I'll have hardly anyone outside the team in the set that trains battling Pokemon with an emphasis on socializing with them. I would have thought there'd be more of them out here, but those I'm finding that do the socializing are among the most casual battlers. That won't give me enough data."

The Elgyem came over and touched his shoulder. "Lessa shei ai."

"Now if only they really had translators," he grumbled. Then he looked to the Pokemon. "Yes, I'm socializing with you, but I've already told you, science is not firm unless there is a wide range of data available. I suppose I could track down the current Champion and interview her. It may be a rumor, but it may be true... a girl who knows the heart of dragons... but I'd prefer to see a more novice Trainer of the right qualities. That way, I could follow the rise and fall of all of the case studies outside of the team set over current time."

But to get more cases, going to interview the Champion seemed a decent enough idea. And since his approach wasn't entirely scientific (as he was simply traveling around and battling others to find subjects), he might still find the right Trainer for the case study. He just hated that it had to rely on luck.

* * *

Flocessy

Once Ruby was healed up and released back onto the yard, Bard went over and hugged her, startling her again. "Oshooo..."

"They're both of the same level, and you're both of the same level as Trainers," Alder said. "So you know what went on?"

"I was using only Tackle, so Bard was doing damage the whole time?" Rosa asked.

Nate crossed his arms over his chest. "The field was uneven because Water trumps Fire and I know Bard has a Water type move. She gave me a chance by not ordering it, but I was playing cautious and took one round too many of having Ruby reduce Bard's defense."

"Well yeah, we could have won with Water Gun," Rosa said. "But I didn't think that was fair."

"It's not that it's unfair, as it's a viable tactic that most Trainers would take advantage of," Alder said. "You were going easy on him. Although doing that would have cut down the amount of the fight I could watch, so that was some help with seeing how you two are. Don't be afraid to use natural advantages. An unfair fight would be if you had used one of the training methods that are illegal within the Pokemon League, such as Pokeball data manipulation and overworking the Pokemon by too much training. But Nate does have the right idea. At this stage, neither of you has a lot to work with in your Pokemon and how you can train them, so simple things like typing can win or lose a battle. But you also need to judge how much risk to take with things such as stat reducing; he could have won if Ruby got a chance to attack back. In time, you may be able to trump the type system through other means, although it will remain important."

Rosa felt a little embarrassed. "Oh, so it'll be better now to fight at our natural best no matter what? Okay."

"We were planning on getting some more Pokemon on this trip," Nate said. "Is there a place ahead that'd be good for that?"

Alder considered it. "You two were working on the Pokedex project, right? In that case, it'll help you most to look everywhere. But beyond that, you can head down that road to route 20. Follow it around the pond there; it's a bit of a pain, but well worth it as then you can reach Flocessy Ranch. I've heard of and seen all sorts of Pokemon around there, so it'd be a good place to expand your team. Trainers gather there too, so it should help you greatly."

"That sounds like a fun place," Rosa said. A ranch... did they keep work Pokemon around? What kind of things did they ranch? Were there any cowboys? It'd be fun to look around. "Thanks Alder! You've been a big help."

"Just doing what's right, helping out you young Trainers," Alder replied, waving them off. "You two have a good time, and take good care of your Pokemon."

"Of course, thank you," Nate said, waving back. With that, they headed off to route 20 and the ranch.

* * *

As it turned out, Route 20 was a pain because of how the land lay around the pond. There were a pair of ledges on the side of the water going up about eleven feet total in a way that would be hard to climb up. With that was a slope going completely around the pond to meet with the ledges at the top. And the pond itself was a good three acres across. There was also the wooded area to the south of the route, where they had encountered the two Plasma thieves.

Fortunately, there were patches of tall grass all along the slope, giving them plenty of opportunities to catch Pokemon. Unfortunately, many that they saw were of the Grass type. Nate caught one, mostly to register it fully with the Pokedex. "It's a Sunkern," he told Rosa. He read over the status screen on his Xtransceiver. While it didn't give numerical stats, he found that looking at the status screen could jog his memory and give him numerical stat tables from when this had all been a game. Quietly wondering why he had memorized such data, he added, "Not very strong, but I suppose people might like it."

Rosa was crouched down in a patch of shorter grass, still a bit pale. "It's absolutely creepy," she said with a shudder. "Didn't you even look at it? It was a big sprouted seed with big soul-sucking eyes and a slim little mouth. That's just... it shouldn't be natural!"

"Careful what you shout around here," Nate said. "Maybe you don't like them, but you'll hurt the Pokemon's feelings."

She put her head down, sighing. Then she got up. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry! Just, let's not team up... maybe we should move to the ranch."

Later on he could come out here to register a few more Pokemon. Although, he was going to have to find a way to earn more money, at the rate he was going through Pokeballs for this project. "All right. Let's go."

"Finally," Rosa said in a soft voice, then took a deep breath and headed back into the grass. They got most of the way through this patch when a Pokemon jumped out at her, making her squeak and trip backwards onto her butt. Then she got a good look at the one that had startled her; it made her smile. "Hey, look at that cutie! It's a Bug Pokemon, I'm pretty sure. Bard!" She got back onto her feet.

Nate paused and looked at the Pokemon she had her eye on. At first, he just saw a number of green leaves wrapped close together. It made him wonder if he was seeing the right one. But then it reared up, showing a yellow insect head and four of six legs. So it was a Bug. Maybe she had an eye on it because it could combat the Grass types she was afraid of. Although, Nate hoped that wasn't the only reason.

It wasn't long before Rosa threw a Pokeball at the Bug. Unlike the Sunkern which had taken three Pokeballs and some coaxing, this Pokemon accepted being caught in one try. Rosa clapped and ran over to get the Pokeball. "It's a Sewaddle!" she said happily, looking over the status screen. Then her mood plummeted. "Uuhhh..."

"What is it?" Nate asked, although he felt that he knew what.

"She's a Bug and Grass type," she said, now uncertain. "I mean, I knew it had leaves, but it seemed like it was wearing them instead of growing them. But what if it gets more leafy when it grows? Then it might be spooky."

He came closer to her. "Then how about you give her a try, at least for a little while? You know, if you're going to be a traveling Trainer, you can't freak out every time there's a Grass Pokemon around. I mean, Hugh has one, and lots of Trainers on the way will also have them. And this one is only half-Grass. You could work on that while training her."

Rosa still looked nervous. "Um, I guess that might work. I don't know... I always thought that I'd never train a Grass Pokemon. But then there will be a lot out there. I try to be nice around Hugh and Vino..."

"Give her a try, just a few days," he encouraged her. "What'll you nickname her? Make it something nice that you wouldn't be afraid of."

She looked at the Pokeball again. "Maybe a few days. Um... I'll call her Angel. Angels can't be bad."

So with Ruby, Bard, and Angel along, plus a few Pokemon that Nate was thinking of releasing once he got them healed up, he and Rosa arrived at Flocessy Ranch. A tall wooden arch greeted them, leading into a fenced in area where the land had been cleared. Past a second fence, there were a number of woolly Pokemon that had yellow heads and tails tipped with sparking blue orbs. The name Mareep came into Nate's head on seeing them, as well as a positive feeling. Maybe he'd used them in his games before. With them were a group of regular sheep as well, more brown than the Mareeps and lacking the tail orbs.

Rosa noticed the sheep and Mareep too and went over to the fence where one of the latter was standing. "Oh, they're so fuzzy up close! Hi there." She hopped up onto the fence and leaned over to pet the Mareep. Then there was a loud snap; Rosa yelped and fell backwards off the fence.

The Mareep stiffened, startled as well. "Maaaahh!"

"Are you okay?" Nate asked, moving closer to her.

She sat up. "Ow, it shocked me. That's some powerful static." Then she got up. "I'm okay. More surprised than anything."

"Don't go hurting yourself on the first day, Rosa," another voice called over. Hugh was coming their way from the area with the ranch house and barn. "Especially not in such a silly way."

"Well I just wanted to pet the Mareep," she said. "And why'd you take off so early this morning? Violet wanted to say goodbye to you and I thought all three of us were going to travel together."

"You know why," he said, although Nate didn't really know what they were talking about. "I have important business to do and I don't want to waste time. It's been so long as it is. But I knew you were avid on going traveling too, Rosa, and I felt uneasy about you being out there alone. Nate's going to be with you, though, so I'm sure you two will be fine."

Rosa huffed. "I would've liked to know that sooner. I was looking forward to us all being together."

Hugh scratched his head. "Look, I'm sorry, but I could be getting into some dangerous stuff. You're just after a missing hero, you know, so that can't be as bad."

"We're after a girl who was the League Champion and she still managed to disappear without a trace," Nate said. "That could be dangerous. Oh, and Violet wanted to make sure that you had an Unova map in your Xtransceiver."

"I think I do?" he replied, turning on his unit and checking. "That would be standard, you'd think... oh geez, no I don't. I already knew this area, so I wasn't concerned."

"We can give you one," Nate said, setting up his unit to send a copy of the map to Hugh's. "It'd be easier if I had your number, though."

"Sure, thanks," Hugh said, sending a contact so that the transfer to go through. "And since you're here now, how about I battle you? I want to make sure you can keep Rosa safe."

"I can handle myself," Rosa insisted.

"Given some training, I'm sure anybody looking to hurt her would have to think twice," Nate said. "But all right, I'll battle you."

Hugh had been the one to offer it, after all. Even though he should have remembered the basics, like Alder had been saying. Vino was a tough Snivy, it seemed like, but a couple of Embers and a Tackle brought him down.


	9. Back at the Ranch

April 14

Flocessy Ranch

In the barn, the ranch had a healing machine that visitors were allowed to use freely. They healed up their Pokemon there. Before heading out again, Nate checked on the Pokemon he had caught on the way here. Along with the Sunkern, he had a Purrloin, a Patrat, a Pidove, and a Lillipup. That gave him a full party by legal standards, and because he couldn't add any more Pokeballs to his Xtransciever's Pokeball holder. But other than Ruby, he didn't feel like taking any one of them permanently. Maybe he would scout out what was in and around the ranch, then decide which Pokemon to keep or recapture.

"So what did you two come all the way out here for?" Hugh asked.

"What do you think?" Rosa asked, smiling and friendly with him once again. "We're going to train our Pokemon too, and catch some more to help us out. There just aren't a lot of Pokemon close to Aspertia and any we could get there are also available on that route. I don't know what I want to catch, though."

"We could consider the Gyms nearby and start preparing," Nate said. "We know Cheren is going to be running a Normal type Gym. Is there another Gym in the area?"

"There's a Poison type Gym over in Virbank, which isn't that far off," Hugh said. "I'm focusing more on getting past Cheren at the moment, although the Virbank Gym will be rough on Vino."

Rosa brightened. "Oh, so we'd want to look for something that can handle Normal Pokemon and Poison? That doesn't sound too hard. Let's go... oof! S-sorry!" She stumbled back after turning and crashing into someone who was coming into the barn.

"Oh, I'm sorry, about that," the man said. "Both of us should've been paying more attention, huh?" The Herdier beside him barked.

"Yeah," Rosa said, then looked at the Herdier. "At least I didn't trip over you, sweetie."

"Honey!" A woman wearing a cowboy hat came into the barn. "Have you seen my partner around?"

"No, I thought she was with you," the man said.

She frowned. "Oh drat, she must have wandered off. Hey kids, have you seen another Herdier around that has a collar like that boy there? I seem to have lost track of her."

"Can't say that I have, but the two of us just arrived," Nate said.

"How could you lose track of your Pokemon?" Hugh said, getting oddly angered. Nate couldn't remember him getting mad about much, but apparently he had blown up at the thief earlier. "Don't you care enough to keep an eye on them? Something seriously bad could have happened. I'll help you look, but you'd better take more responsibility." He then ran out of the barn.

"Whoa there, it can't be that serious," the woman said, but he was already gone. "Huh, that boy didn't seem like a sensitive sort, but maybe it's a sore spot or something. I would look, but I need to get back to watching the sheep and Mareep."

"We'll help look for your Pokemon too," Rosa said. "So it's a Herdier with an orange collar like that?"

She nodded. "Yup. She doesn't have a nickname, but she'll usually come to Herdier. I don't think she would have gotten far."

"All right, then it shouldn't take long," she said.

"You both work at this ranch?" Nate asked, before heading out with her. "Are all the Mareep here with the ranch?"

The man shook his head. "Not all of 'em, just some. But you can tell the ranch ones because we keep them with Pokeballs and they have the same sort of collar. If they don't have the collar, you're free to catch them. That goes for any of the Pokemon around here, not just the Mareep."

"All right, thanks," he said, then left the barn to meet back up with Rosa.

For a few minutes, they searched around the pen where the sheep were. It seemed that the Mareep were helping to keep track of the sheep. There was a chance that the missing Herdier had left through the main gate, but Nate didn't think that was likely. After all, they would have encountered her on Route 20 and she would have stood out among the Lillipups there.

"Hey, there's a path behind the house," Rosa pointed out after it was apparent that the canine wasn't in with the sheep. "Maybe she went back there."

"Could be harder to search in the trees," Nate said. He glanced around, eventually seeing the black haired Hugh a short distance off. "Hey Hugh, we're going to look in the woods back there."

He looked over, then headed there with them. "Good idea. The Herdier would have been easier to spot in this area, so if she can't find it, it must be up here."

"Why'd you snap at the rancher like that?" Nate asked. "It wasn't like this Pokemon was kidnapped."

"It might have been," Hugh said, frowning. "Every Trainer has got to be responsible for their Pokemon. It's not like she lost a small Pokemon in the tall grass. Something bad might have happened."

'But it might not have," Rosa said. "Still, I wonder where she got to."

In the wooded area, they split up to search faster. There were a few other Trainers back here, but they hadn't noticed any particular Herdier around. From this, Nate didn't think it was anything bad either. People would notice if someone was trying to hurt a Pokemon, or if it had gotten hurt by some other means. A Pokemon just wandering around wouldn't be anything remarkable to these people, even more so for one common to the area.

Then he heard a sharp bark in the woods, like a warning. Nate changed the path he was on and headed for the sound. Rosa had the same idea, as he heard her call, "Herdier? Is that you?" from nearby before he saw her. They met up and came to a small opening in the trees, where they could hear the Herdier growling.

And there was a Herdier there, her black and brown fur a little dirty but otherwise well kept. She wore an orange collar marking her as belonging to the ranch, and she was in a posture that suggested a warning that she might attack although she didn't want to. And facing her in disgust was a man wearing a black and gray outfit, a scarf and hood disguising his identity. He looked exactly like the two Team Plasma thieves from a few days ago.

"Back off, you pest!" the man said, looking like he wanted to kick the Herdier but didn't want to risk getting bit either. "You have no business in interrupting my business."

"Grrrrrr," the Herdier retaliated, also holding back on attacking.

"Hey, what are you up to?" Rosa asked.

"It has nothing to do with you!" he said, glancing at them but keeping most of his attention on the Pokemon. "Now do us both a favor by taking this Pokemon and then scram."

"Are you with Team Plasma?" Nate asked, just in case.

"How do you know about that?" he asked. He clutched something that chinked to his chest. "Or do you know? Two years ago, we were betrayed, by our own leader. But we haven't given up yet! We're going to come back in a big way and no one will stand in our way."

"You can't be serious," Rosa said. "Team Plasma is gone, and you're just out to cause trouble like the other two."

"Wait, you know about them? We're not causing trouble; you wouldn't understand. Argh, but why do you have to be causing me problems with this scruffy pest..."

The Herdier barked in warning again. She definitely didn't like him.

"Fine, I give up!" He threw something at Nate; he barely got time to bring his hand up to block it before it hit him in the face. "Take it and leave me be!" He then bolted through the trees.

"What's going on here?" Hugh asked, finally arriving.

"There was one of those guys dressed like the ones who got you the other day," Rosa said. "I mean, from Team Plasma. And he even said so! But he got away from us. Herdier, are you okay?"

The Pokemon walked over to them, relaxing and seeming more friendly. "Ruff." She came up and sniffed Ruby, who sniffed back.

"From Team Plasma?" Hugh replied. "I knew there was trouble from the stragglers, but there shouldn't be any more. Maybe there's more to this than we thought."

Crouched down, Nate finally located what had been thrown at him and picked it up. It was a laminated card labeled 'Flocessy Ranch', with a keyring punched into one corner. On one side, there was a bar code; on the ring, there were five keys. "He had this. Either of you know what it is?" When neither of them recognized it, he tucked it into the pocket of his shorts. "Well let's get the Herdier back. Come on, girl."

The Herdier was cooperative and followed the three of them back to the Mareep and sheep pen, where the ranch woman was back on watch. "Oh hey, there you are!" she said happily, petting her Pokemon when she came back to her side. "Thanks for finding her, y'all."

"No problem," Rosa said.

"Actually, she was after someone who could have caused you trouble," Hugh said. "There's some members from Team Plasma lurking around lately; who knows what they would've done. You'd better increase your security or something." Then he headed back into the wooded area.

"Some guys from Team Plasma?" the ranch hand asked. "That can't be right. But we should be able to lock things up a little tighter while remaining open."

"We think he took this," Nate said, taking the card out of his pocket and handing it to her. "What is it?"

She looked it over, then frowned. "Oh...oh! Wow, that could've been a big mess. This here is a key into the computer system we have that keeps track of all the animals and Pokemon. And what you see here ain't all to the ranch; we've got some much bigger pens with more livestock and work 'mons out beyond the woods. If someone had this, they might have stolen any of 'em, or even all of 'em. We might not have even noticed. Huh."

"Maybe Herdier saw him take the card and went to keep him from getting away," Rosa said. Then she knelt down and hugged her. "You're a good Pokemon."

The ranch hand smiled. "Aye, that's my partner. She's smart, so she must've known the key going missing would be big trouble. You might've saved everybody's jobs, Herdier." She petted the Pokemon again.

The Herdier barked, happy to have helped it seemed.

"And thanks again to you three for helping her out," she said. "I ain't got much, but here, I'll give you both some Great Balls. Have fun around here, just don't worry the animals."

* * *

April 15

Rosa sat cross-legged on the ground, back in the woods behind the ranch house. She had spent some time training Bard. But now that she had a second Pokemon, she needed to train her as well. While she had connected quickly with the Oshawott, this Sewaddle... she just wasn't sure yet.

A few feet from her, Angel was crawling on the ground, searching around. Sometimes she chewed on some grass. Then she came across a young green leaf that had fallen off a tree. With little chirping sounds that were barely audible, the Sewaddle seemed to examine it carefully from both sides. Then she curled around and began dextrously sewing it to her leaf cloak with her own silk.

Well that was kind of clever, Rosa thought. So she wasn't actually growing those leaves, but using them to cover her body. But how did Angel keep the leaves so green and soft? If she tried to make clothes with leaves, then Rosa knew they'd get ugly brown and dry after a few hours. She was still a cute Pokemon, so maybe it wouldn't be that bad.

Once Angel uncurled herself with her new leaf in place, Rosa got up. "Okay, enough of a break," she said. "Let's go try you out in battle."

The Sewaddle hesitated, then followed after her slowly. They stirred up a few battles against Lillipups and a Mareep. Obviously, Angel wasn't nearly as strong as Bard, so Rosa often had the Oshawott actually finish off the battles. The Sewaddle seemed to be doing all right, but when she demonstrated her first Grass move, Rosa couldn't help but shiver a bit. She could almost forget and think that Angel was just a Bug Pokemon, but that wasn't right.

Then something exciting happened: they came across a little rodent Pokemon with blue fur and a sad-looking face, bouncing on a ball at the end of its long thin tail. "Oh my gosh!" Rosa squealed. "An Azurill!"

Startled, the Azurill fumbled off its ball, then bounded away in a fright. Nearby, Angel scrunched under her leaf cloak at Rosa's voice. Bard gave a worried sound and tapped the Sewaddle on the back, trying to coax her out.

"Oh, sorry, so sorry," Rosa said, trying to tone down her excited smile. "I always liked the look of an Azurill. So round and bouncy, and it's extra cute when it hops. Too bad I scared that one off, but maybe there'll be another around." She leaned over and scooped up Angel. "Sorry, I'll try not to be so loud all of a sudden," she said. "Let's go looking for it!" She headed further into the woods, followed by Bard.

After a few minutes, they came to a stream wandering through the woods. It was clear, flowing gently to the southeast now that the winter melt-offs had passed. Here, she could see three Pokemon. At the bank of the river close to where she was, there was a yellow Psyduck that was scooping up mud and patting it on the top of its head. Close to it on a rock in the stream, there was a Pokemon unfamiliar to Rosa; it was a blue and black one, almost canine from the shape of its head and ears but standing on its hind legs comfortably. Not quite, actually. It was standing on one foot, with the other held up in front of it while it balanced on the small exposed portion of the rock. And in the water, there was a blue orb that was like the Azurill's.

Rosa was caught in indecision looking at the three Pokemon. She wanted to know what the one on the rock was, so it'd be nice to catch that one. But, she liked Azurills and Marills, so she could coax out the one in the water to trying catching it. Not only that, but Psyducks were nice too, even if she didn't understand why this one was piling on mud. Maybe it thought that would help against the Mareep that were common around here?

Or, she could catch all three and decide which ones to take later on. Rosa set Angel back down on the ground, then came out of the trees. "Hey there! I'm just starting out looking for more Pokemon and..."

The Pokemon on the rock shifted its position, then backflipped to the other side of the stream. It was out of reach unless she wanted to cross the water. The one in the water, turning out to be a Marill, popped its head above water, then swam off. That left the Psyduck, who dropped its wingful of mud and looked back at her. "Psy?"

Well that decided which one to go after first. "Yeah, I want to try you out on my team," she said. "What do you say? Let's go!"

After giving it a few hits from Angel, Rosa was able to successfully capture the Psyduck. It turned out to be a male. "All right!" she said. "Thanks Angel. I think I'll call this one Buddy, cause he's a muddy buddy." She giggled, then looked over at the mystery Pokemon. It was still standing on the other bank, looking at her. "Mm, let's go back and get healed up," she said to Angel and Bard. "I'll be back." Then she recalled her other two and ran back to the barn.

While she was waiting for a turn to use the healing machine, Rosa activated the Pokedex and searched through it for the other Pokemon. It turned out to be called a Riolu. And, it was a Fight type Pokemon. That would be useful for fighting Cheren, she thought. Once her current team was healed up, she ran back to the stream.

The Riolu was back on that rock, eyes closed. Rosa grinned. "Oh, Riolu, won't you come with me too?" she asked.

Opening one eye, the Riolu considered her. Then it closed its eye again, focusing on whatever it was doing. Maybe it wasn't in a mood to fight. Or maybe she needed to do something more to impress it.

"I'm sure we'd have lots of fun," she said. When it didn't react, she added, "Oh, I could get you a berry if you're hungry." That still didn't work. "Please?"

Since it didn't seem inclined to let her try to fight it, Rosa focused on what was in the stream. Maybe there was a more cooperative Azurill or Marill around. She touched the surface of the stream, trying to lure one out of the water. But what she got first was a big serious looking fish Pokemon, a blue striped Basculin. She used Buddy to fight it, managing to catch it as well. She ran back to the barn, nicknamed her new Pokemon Finn (as it was another boy), then ran back to the stream. While she wasn't able to convince the Riolu yet, she did manage to get a curious Azurill to come out of the grass and battle Finn. That had been a close call, as Finn had nearly knocked her out. But Rosa managed to catch the Azurill too.

Coming back to the stream for a third time, Rosa found the Riolu was watching her now. "Are you gonna be any more cooperative?" she asked. "Because with Misty in my party now, I've only got room for one more Pokemon. Please?"

The Riolu looked at her for a moment longer, then waved down the stream.

Rosa looked and saw another rock. "What, you want me to join you?" She set her bag down and then hopped out to the rock. The Riolu twisted its ears towards her, turning on its one foot to face her. "It's not that baaa...aaahh!" Her shoe slipped on a wet patch and she fell into the water with a large splash.

The Riolu dove into the water, looking her eye to eye below the surface. But Rosa's feet found the muddy bottom and she was able to stand up. The stream wasn't that deep. A moment later, the Riolu surfaced as well; it was too short to touch bottom, but it was able to stay in place there.

"No worries!" Rosa said, grinning and splashing the water. "I'm a good swimmer. This water's pretty nice, actually."

Shaking its head, the Riolu swam to the closest bank to climb out. But Rosa wasn't going to let it get away that easily, even if she didn't mind being dunked. She took one of her Pokeballs and released whichever one it was. It turned out to be Buddy the Psyduck; his head was still caked in moist mud.

"Don't let it slip away!" Rosa said.

The Riolu huffed then, moving faster than the Psyduck, knocked him out while Rosa was getting out of the stream herself. It did turn to face her then, paws on its hips. It seemed to be ready to fight now.

"Okay, but I'm still going to try getting you," she said, then released the Azurill Misty. Unfortunately, that didn't help much. Misty knew Splash and one weak attack move, so she was soon knocked out as well. Finn the Basculin had a bit better luck, lasting two rounds before the Riolu knocked him out. But it was looking worn down; it couldn't take much more.

She thought about releasing Bard, but he might knock the Riolu out before Rosa had a chance to capture it. Instead, she released Angel. "Slow it down."

Crouching down and trembling, the Sewaddle threw some of her silk at the Riolu's legs. It did make it harder for the Riolu to move. Not wanting to lose it, Rosa threw a Pokeball at the Riolu. Those had worked just fine on the rest. But, the Riolu broke right out of it. Rosa felt determined not to give up at this point, not after it had knocked out half her team (admittingly the half that she had yet to actually train). She took one of the Great Balls that the ranch hand had given her and used that instead.

The ball rolled for quite some ways before it clicked with success.

That night, she met with Hugh and Nate to camp out in the wooded part of the ranch with them. The Riolu was being sulky; she poised herself on top of the pole that supported one of the tents, watching over them. "It's good to know that she's going to be strong right away," Rosa said. "But I didn't expect River to give me that much trouble catching her."

"She's going to be a glass cannon for a while," Nate said. "Are you sure she wanted to be captured?"

"Well she didn't break out that second time," Rosa said. "Do you want to leave? I can let you go."

The Riolu tensed at the question, then shook her head. Maybe she hadn't meant to get captured, but it seemed like now that she was, she was going to stick around.

"Thank you," Rosa said, smiling but feeling a bit worried. Had she gone about it wrong? It was too bad she couldn't really talk to the Pokemon.

"What do you mean by a glass cannon?" Hugh asked, after adding a new log to the fire. "Wouldn't something like that explode if you tried to use it?"

"I can't think of a glass kind of Pokemon either," Rosa said, looking back at her friends.

"It's..." he thought for a moment, trying to word it. "It's an expression. A glass cannon is a fighter who relies on speed and power, but ends up with frail defenses as a result. So yeah, River can hit hard, but will have a hard time taking hits herself."

"Oh, one of those video game things?" Rosa said. And come to think about it, she did get knocked out several times today while Rosa was trying to train her up. "I supposed I'll have to be careful of that now."

"You need to be careful about the type spread of your team," Hugh said. "Over half of them are Water types."

She shrugged. "So? I like Water Pokemon."

"They're all going to have the same weaknesses," he said. "And it will make it even harder for your team to fight certain kinds, like Grass or Ice Pokemon. It might help you to release redundant Pokemon, such as the same types who use the same kind of moves."

"Um, well at least I got them for the Pokedex," Rosa said, looking away as she felt herself get embarrassed. Alder had been talking about stuff like that just this morning, but she'd only been thinking in terms of individual Pokemon and matches, not her entire team.

"What kind of Pokemon have you caught?" Nate asked Hugh, thankfully deflecting the focus of the conversation from her.

"Nothing," he said. "I'm going to stick with Vino for now and get him strong. Although I was thinking of getting a Pidove shortly. They're useful. What about you?"

Nate shrugged. "I caught a number of them just for Pokedex registry; released most of them, but I did keep one for my team." He pointed over to where a Mareep was apparently snoozing nearby. "That's Snapper over there. I spent about two hours watching a group of Mareep that didn't belong to the ranch, trying to figure out which one I wanted. Snapper was the one who stood out to me."

"Wow, that's some dedication," Rosa said, impressed. "I didn't think to watch the Pokemon that long."

"Well it's not like I could," he stopped suddenly, then bit his lip and shook his head.

"Isn't a snapper a kind of fish?" Hugh asked. "An odd name."

Rosa laughed. "It makes sense to me! Cause their static makes loud snaps."

"That's pretty much it," Nate said. "I think, for taking on Cheren, I'm going to give it a try with these two. I need to focus on Snapper for a time, build him up to match Ruby's level."

"Sounds like you two are getting prepared well," Rosa said.

But, she had to decide which of her team to keep and which to release. It didn't seem right to store them away in digital boxes, even though the option was there and said to safe. If Rosa had to decide, she'd rather them go free than to stay in a computer. She looked over their moves and statuses.

Reluctantly, she decided not to keep Misty the Azurill. She had Splash as one of her moves, which was pretty much useless in battle. Plus she seemed weaker than the rest, needing more training time to come up to match their power. Rosa knew she'd be keeping River for challenging Cheren (something that gave her a shiver to think about... it was hard to believe that she was contemplating this so soon, even knowing that he'd have a lower level team than usual). And she knew she'd keep Bard, as he'd earned a place firmly in her heart.

That left Buddy the Psyduck, Finn the Basculin, and Angel the Sewaddle. Rosa thought for a moment that having so many choices, she might be able to give up on the Sewaddle. But, her types were both different from the rest, which made her a better choice to keep. Buddy, unfortunately, had similar moves to Bard. Finn at least had something different. So, she was going to let go of Misty and Buddy. Maybe Finn; she's work with him for a little while and see what he was like.

Still, it seemed sad to realize that she'd have to be more careful with picking up the Pokemon she liked. Maybe if she found some mixed type Pokemon, she could still work mostly with her preferred Water types.


	10. Cheren's First Challengers

April 21

Aspertia

It was an exciting day for them, but for Aspertia it seemed like more or less another regular day. Rosa came back with Nate on the day that the Gym officially opened. While there was a notice on the electronic board in the gatehouse, there wasn't much in town about it. "You'd think there'd be some celebration for the city getting its own Gym," Rosa said.

"Maybe there'll be one later," Nate said. "It is still daytime and most people would be at work."

"Right, I hope so. Cheren worked really hard at his studies and so he deserves this." They kept walking along the street to the school, where the Gym was stationed until the League could buy up a space to build one. That is, if they decided to do that.

After going around the school and through a gate, they ended up in the old playground where Cheren had set up. He was there in one of the painted battlefields, talking with six of the students from the regular school. There was a statue from the Pokemon League at the edge of the playground, with a screen that would list the current winners. Since it had just opened this morning, it was an empty list.

"This is extra credit, so you need to still keep up on your regular classes," Cheren was telling the two kids. "I'll be expecting all of you who opt for this to do well. Hmm, what is it?"

"Someone's here," a girl said, pointing to them. "Hi Rosa!"

"Hello!" she said, waving back.

Cheren turned to them and smiled. "Ah, it's you both. I was expecting to see you. Nice to see that you managed to be my first challengers. That is what you're here for, right?"

"Of course," she said, smiling. "We're all going to do our best."

"Great," Cheren said, reaching down and picking up a machine. He spoke briefly to his two student Trainers, "Okay, you all pay attention to this," then turned to them. "First things first; I need to scan your League ID cards and the Pokeballs to the team you'll be using. Right now, we're only accepting low-level challenges, but I'm sure that's no issue."

"Sure," she said, handing over her card, then taking out the three Pokeballs to her team.

"The ID checks gives you their badge count and registration data," one of the boys said. "And the Pokeball scan makes sure all the Pokemon are legal and healthy competitors."

"Exactly," Cheren said. "So it says Rosa has three Pokemon and no badges yet. What's that mean for you?"

"That she has to defeat two of us before she can challenge you," the boy replied.

"Good," he said, handing back Rosa's team. "Sorry about using you guys as an example, but we're all settling in here. Okay, you handle Nate, and two of you stay in the fields to challenge her. Rosa, I'll be at the back of the playground when you're ready."

"Okay!" she said as she headed over to the nearer of the two battle fields. One of the boys and one of the girls headed over to act as her opponents.

"May I scan your ID and Pokeballs?" the boy who had been assigned that duty asked Nate.

"Sure," he said, pulling out his card to hand over. This was a part of the process for every Gym, so it was something to get used to.

"Okay, well," the boy looked back to the grounds when he was done, "I know you heard, but since it's your first time in the Gym, I gotta tell you that you need to defeat two of us to challenge Cheren. Okay?"

To humor him, Nate nodded. "Sure, thanks for telling me."

The boy grinned. "Good luck. You're gonna need it, especially against the Leader."

Nate then headed for the other battle field where two other kids had decided to be his opponents. He had his Mareep Snapper lead against both of them. As Rosa had found out first hand, Mareep had a potent static associated with their wooly coat. On physical contact, an opponent Pokemon could become paralyzed. It didn't happen with every hit, but it happened often enough to be of good use. If he really needed to paralyze, Snapper had a move for that as well.

As the kids didn't have many Pokemon, Nate was able to beat them readily. When those battles were done, he looked across the playground to see that Rosa had gone ahead and challenged Cheren. He wasn't sure how long she'd been in the battle, but Bard was fighting a Lillipup. The Oshawott hit the Lillipup with a Water Gun, but then was knocked out with a Tackle. Not only that, but it seemed particularly powerful, even enough to knock Bard back behind Rosa.

She seemed worried from the way she nearly dropped her next Pokeball. But then she called out her Sewaddle. The little Bug trembled at first, but hurried over obediently when Rosa called for an attack. But Cheren had healed up his Lillipup, so the biting attack didn't do much. Especially not compared to the powerful tackle that knocked into Angel.

But it didn't knock her out. Angel held on bravely, biting the canine again. She couldn't resist a second tackle and was knocked out. Cheren bowed his head. "You did pretty good, but not good enough. Sorry Rosa."

"What, we lost?" Rosa asked, seeming shocked. "Um, wow, you really are great even with restrictions, but..."

"You'd better go to the Pokecenter," Nate suggested. He glanced over at Cheren. "Mind if I go with her?"

"You're free to come and go as you need," Cheren said, nodding. "You'll need to be rescanned when you come back in."

"Sure," Nate said, then took Rosa's hand and walked with her back to the Pokecenter.

It wasn't the first time that Rosa's team had been wiped out, Nate reflected. Maybe it was just doing so against Cheren, who she surely wanted to impress still. They came into the Pokecenter, which had another Trainer at the Pokemart counter but few others. So Rosa's four Pokemon were able to get immediate care.

"Oh, hello Rosa," the nurse said. "What's wrong?"

"I, I need to get my Pokemon healed," she said, handing over a couple of the Pokeballs.

"Of course," the nurse said kindly, taking them and putting them in the machine while Rosa got the others. "It's nice that your boyfriend came over with you."

"We're not dating," Nate said calmly. "Just helping each other out."

"Ye-yeah," Rosa said, then turned to him. "Wow, I always knew that he was a great Trainer, but it was something else to actually go up against him! I hoped I had a chance because he just had two and he didn't attack right off. But then both of them became so powerful. Am I just not good enough to win that?"

"I don't think it's like that," he said. "It's his duty as a Gym Leader to give every person who comes to him a challenge, even those of us who are his friends."

"Here you go, Rosa," the nurse said. "Your Pokemon are all better. What about you?"

"Yeah, they could use some healing," Nate said, handing his two over. Not as much as Rosa's needed, obviously, but coming up against a strong opponent, he could use every edge he could get. Then he turned back to Rosa. "And that was just one try. We can go back to the ranch and train up some more."

"I could," she said. "Thanks. But, don't you want to try today too?"

"Yeah, I was going to head back. Don't let him see you discouraged; your spirit is one of the best things going for you."

That did the trick and she smiled. "Aw, okay. We'll make ourselves strong and come back."

The nurse then came back with his Pokemon. "And here you go. Oh, and if you're friends with the Gym Leader, there's going to be a celebration of the opening up on the overlook this evening."

"Good, that's what I was hoping to hear," Rosa said. "If that's so, maybe we'll just try training on Route 19 for today, so we don't have to go all the way out there and back."

"Have a good day, both of you," the nurse said. Then she winked at Nate. "And you take good care of Rosa, young fellow."

"We're just friends," Nate said, but bowed to her. "Thanks."

On the way out, Rosa sighed. "Aah, why do they all think you're my boyfriend? It's not like you're the only boy I've ever hung out with. I wonder if Mom said something."

"Probably just some gossip that's hard to kill," he replied. "Don't let it get to you."

"I guess. But I do like having you as a friend, don't get me wrong about that."

"I like having you as a friend too," he said, giving her a smile.

Back at the Gym in the playground, Nate rescanned his ID and team so that they knew he hadn't changed any of it on them. Rosa wasn't battling now, so she didn't have to. Since he'd already beaten two of the student Trainers, Nate went straight to the back of the playground where Cheren was waiting. There was another Trainer there, the red-haired girl who had been at the Pokemart counter. Because of that, Nate and Rosa had to watch that battle (Cheren won), then wait for Cheren to heal up with the Gym's healing device.

Then, it was time. "All right, I'm ready to challenge you now," Nate said, giving him a friendly nod.

"Good, I was looking forward to fighting you," Cheren said, returning the gesture. "As your mind has begun to clear, I want to see what you're really like as a Pokemon Trainer. So then, do you believe in your Pokemon? Then give your best effort to battling me. Declare your Pokemon. I have two."

"I have two," Nate said. According to what he'd read, this was traditional battling etiquette that had its strongest hold in the Pokemon Leagues.

"Then let's begin," Cheren said, releasing a Patrat.

Like he'd been looking for during last semester finals, Nate recalled, but whether that was related to this wasn't important now. He called on Ruby. If he worked at training her for a few more levels, then she'd evolve and gain a Fight typing and move, which would be valuable in a match like this. But, that would be overdoing it. He believed that his team could do this now. Although, Rosa's talk about her match lingered in his mind.

Cheren called out a move named Work Up. In the data lists he'd memorized in another world, this was a stat boosting move that would counter the stat dropping move Ruby knew. Having a split second warning of what Cheren was doing, he had the Tepig simply tackle the Patrat. It was a little stronger than Ember here; a second tackle took out the Patrat.

When Cheren had to swap out, Nate opted to swap Ruby for Snapper. Trainers like Cheren wouldn't put their strongest Pokemon out first, that was how he thought of it. The chance of paralysis would help in this second match, as the Mareep came up against the Lillipup that had taken out Rosa's team. Cheren started with Work Up again, so Nate stuck with an electric attack. When the Lillipup attacked, it made a powerful hit against Snapper, but not enough to knock him out. It also didn't activate Static, so Nate healed up his Pokemon in the same round that Cheren did.

The next attack by the Lillipup did activate Static, causing it to suffer from paralysis. But it also knocked Snapper out. Keeping calm, Nate called Ruby back out and had her finish off the Lillipup before it could get past its paralysis to hit her. "Good work, Ruby," Nate told her. "I need to tell Snapper the same later on."

"You really are the tactical type," Cheren said, coming over to him. "Well done; you've already grown a lot as a Trainer, even from when you and Rosa set out to train a couple weeks back. And here's proof of your victory: the Basic Badge." He handed over a small metal, like a decorative pin without the pin backing. It was set in gold, with a red and black centerpiece that made it seem like the spine of a book.

"Thanks," Nate said, taking it. In a way, it didn't look like a lot. But in this world, it held such great significance, earning its holder the respect of humans and Pokemon alike. And it was from a battle that was much more difficult that then those he'd gotten from other young Trainers around Aspertia and Flocessy. It made him excited to think of what challenges lay ahead.

Cheren put his hand to his chin. "Interesting that you should make it as the first Trainer to earn a badge from me, when it's likely thanks to you that I got the chance to be a Gym Leader."

"How would it be due to him?" Rosa asked, coming over. "Congratulations, Nate! You need to give me some tips now."

Nate laughed, "I already did."

Cheren laughed too. "Well it's not like Nate could recommend me or anything. But, you remember how you asked me to help teach him about Pokemon? I actually did a lot of thinking and researching to figure out how to do that, and I wrote an essay about it that I sent to an academic journal for students. Seeing that essay led Lenora to considering me, asking my teachers for projects I done for my League related courses and such. So yeah, if you hadn't come along like you did, Nate, I wouldn't have been a person considered."

"I hadn't thought my being amnesiac would have such a positive effect on someone else," Nate said, scratching his head. "But hey, I think this job came to a good guy."

He shrugged. "Maybe you don't see it, but it is going to keep me busy. It's a good busy, though. Oh, and Rosa, I noticed something in your battle," he turned to her. "I hadn't expected to see you with a Grass Pokemon, with how you feel about them."

"Oh, you remembered that?" Rosa said, turning slightly pink. "Well, I decided to give her a try because, you know, it's not like I can avoid them all the time. I'm still not sure about her, sorry."

"But you're trying," Cheren said in encouragement. "And, I think she's starting to open up to you. Bianca would be able to read her better than me, but I saw how that Sewaddle hung on like she did. Some Pokemon will hang on in determination for their Trainer. She was working hard for you. Make sure that she knows you appreciate that."

"Okay, I'll do that," she said.

* * *

That night, Rosa and Nate came back to Aspertia for the celebration about the Gym's opening. There were a good many people here, from the students who were acting as the Gym Trainers and their families to other Gym Leaders, even some friends of Cheren's like Bianca. "Hi you two!" the blond haired girl said happily on seeing them, waving them over. "Hey, I heard that Nate was the only one who managed to get the badge today despite a lot of people trying to challenge Cheren. Congratulations! Did you treat your Pokemon for it?"

"Sure did," Nate said. He had bought them some Pokemon treats from a local store, although they ended up buying Rosa's Pokemon some too so they didn't feel left out. "Thanks, although I hadn't heard about being the only one."

"There were some close matches," Cheren said. "Especially in some of the higher level challenges later in the day, when my high level Trainers were out of class. I'm pretty sure I'm still within bounds, though I'll know for sure in the first week review later on."

Nate nodded. All Gym battles were taped, although they were kept private in League files until the challenger authorized them being released to the public site. It was through that that he had been able to find records of most of Hilda's battles in the League, to try and figure her out. He had gone ahead and allowed for his tapes to be publicly accessible, as it didn't seem harmful.

Thinking of her, he decided they should be kept up to date, since they were her old friends. "I had some things to tell you about Hilda, not a lot," he said. He then told them about how they'd determined that she'd disappeared within a week of visiting Alder, and that she had been actively searching for Keldeo at that time.

"Keldeo, huh?" Bianca said.

"Oh yeah, and there was something you were saying about him," Rosa said. She had her Basculin Finn in her arms, a habit she'd gotten into for reasons Nate didn't know. "Do you remember, when we were at that big rock? You said that Keldeo had been reborn around fifteen years ago but his powers got buried so deeply that no one could sense him until recently. And that it's likely that even the legendary Pokemon wouldn't realize where he was until they came in direct contact with him."

"If he's been reborn, I'd check places around bodies of water, like the coastline or the rivers," Bianca said. "Because most legends you hear of him, he loves being in those places."

"That'd be a good place to start," Cheren said. "You might have some trouble identifying him. But then, maybe your Pokemon will be able to notice something that you can't. Or even some of the other legendaries might help, if you could find them. I used to know Meloetta, and traveled with her for a while. But I let her go when she asked, so I don't know where she is."

Bianca nodded. "She's probably in a place with a lot of musicians again. Oh, and I traveled with Victini for a long time, but he asked to head out on his own after Team Plasma fell. If you find them and let them know what you're doing, they might be willing to help you too."

"You both traveled with legendary Pokemon?" Nate asked. It was surprising. He'd known that Hilda had been under Kyurem's protection, but hadn't heard about them too.

"Well when the lands become troubled, the guardians will come alert and seek to help solve things," Bianca said. "It happens in many other lands too. Many legendary Pokemon have sworn oaths to protect their homelands and they will do what is necessary to help bring peace and stability back."

"Still, it'd be better to focus on your given quest, to find out what happened to Hilda and help her back home," Cheren said. "But should you come across another of Unova's guardians, it wouldn't hurt to ask for their help, or even just their blessing."

* * *

As the party continued, Rosa went to talk to various people she knew. Nate felt a bit of loneliness at that. Who had he known? Would he meet them again? But then a thought came clear to him, that there was no way that he wanted to go back to his old world. There was something…

It wasn't utter destruction, but it might as well have been. Everything that was familiar was gone or changed greatly. There were dangers that, long ago, would have been unthinkable. There was talk of the end of the world, dangerous to look into. While he had been close to one person, that person too was changed beyond recognition with the collapse of order. There was no reason for him to stay, other than to wait for his own end.

..more of a feeling than anything else, but the pain of that was almost more than being lonely at this party.

But that was behind him. He needed to be here now. Nate tried to strike up a few conversations with others, but having only been here for a few months, there weren't many that he knew.

At one point, he met with a man wearing a green bandana over his head. "Well I have Pokemon, but I'm a breeder more than a battler," he said, patting the head of a Girafarig that was by his side. "I take in endangered species and try to help their numbers build. Most of the ones I raise eventually go into adoption or to Safari Zones."

"That sounds like a good cause," Nate said. "How long have you been doing that?"

"About two years, which isn't long but I've already gotten high marks." He smiled. "I even was able to give a couple of Pokemon over to the Pokestar Studios, in order to make movies. I hope they get used for films that make people think about how they interact with Pokemon."

"I wouldn't know much about that," he said. "I hope they treat them well. Pokemon are intelligent and loving creatures, from what I've seen, so we need to respect and love them."

"Yeah," the breeder said, but he seemed distracted in a sudden thought. "Look, don't take me the wrong way, but you remind me of someone, or maybe it's your words. Can you, um, understand Pokemon?"

Puzzled by the remark, Nate shook his head. "No. But I try my hardest to understand them. I was involved in an accident that messed up my mind a few months back and I had to relearn a lot, even about Pokemon." He shrugged. "I guess I see them in a different light, especially when my Tepig here has been so supportive of me."

"Te oink!" Ruby said, wagging her tail. She kept close to him, while Snapper wandered around checking other people out.

"I see," he said, a little disappointed.

And then something came to Nate. It was like his premonitions, but not quite. There was a connection here to someone important.

…

The route was lit primarily by moonlight, since the lights by the daycare didn't extend to this area. He walked down the dark route, coming from the cave where they were gathering Pokemon they had liberated from others for health checks. Maybe it was a little dangerous to be walking out so late, but he needed to be in the next town by morning.

While walking by a low ledge, he came upon a surprise: Lord N was lying on the ground nearby, looking up at the stars. He knew the young King was out on a mission, but they had not been told that he'd be in this area. "My lord?" he called, stepping up onto the ledge.

N sat up to see who it was. If he'd been anyone else, the knight would have thought him upset or sad from how he looked. But was he? N was a special person and he'd heard from others that he wasn't like anyone else. "Oh, it's one of you. Are things going well?"

He nodded. "Yes, things are going smoothly." He wondered if he should dare ask, conflicted between respect and sympathy. The latter won out. "Are things well for you? You seem troubled."

"Do I?" He got up. "Don't mind me. I was just… I released the Pokemon that were assisting me a short while ago."

That puzzled him. Then again, quite a few things about Plasma had puzzled him since he'd joined a month back. But they were doing the right thing, he believed. "You did? Why? I heard you were to win the Championship to get the people to listen, but most Trainers keep their Pokemon along the way, to keep building their bond."

N was quiet for a moment, then said, "I'm aware of it. But even if I must do this, I can't stand to see the Pokemon in pain. So once they've helped me, I'm letting them go back to their lives. That way, they don't have to suffer."

So things like ordinary battling hurt Pokemon? Recalling his younger days when he'd tried to make his way through the League, he felt bad about not considering that. "Really? Should I let my Pokemon go too after they help me with a mission?"

"No, you keep yours," N said. "Your missions won't be as difficult on the Pokemon. Keep them until I can call on the legendary dragon to order everyone to release their Pokemon."

"All right, then I'll be careful with them," he said.

"Good, it's good to hear that from you." However, he still seemed troubled, not looking at him while talking.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm letting these Pokemon have their freedom," N said. "Then why did she seem so sad and upset to leave me? And then there was that Trainer in Accumula; the Snivy seemed so excited to be with her, happier than I've seen any Pokemon. And what did she mean by calling that boy Kyurem? It couldn't have been…" he shook his head. "What is the meaning of this, Hilda? Humans and Pokemon… I feel like not a part of either of them, just on the edges of both, between them. But I will save them, and make this world better."

"My lord?" On one hand, he could see some Pokemon being unhappy to leave a Trainer they liked. But that's not what N had been talking about before, nor the ones who had recruited him into Team Plasma. What was really going on here?

He looked surprised to realize that he was still there. "Oh… don't mind me. I'm just thinking out loud. Things are certainly different out here. Your Pokemon are doing a big favor to us all by helping you now, so treat them well while you have them."

He nodded. "I will. I'd better move on to get in place for the next mission. Take care, my lord."

…

It seemed real, like the other two visions he had seen. Had it been a memory from this guy? Nate glanced around, then lowered his voice to ask, "Excuse me, but were you a part of Team Plasma?"

The breeder paled, drawing back a little. "Ho-how did you know? Please don't tell anyone; I came back to my childhood home to start my life over, but no one here knows that I was a part of it."

"It's okay, I won't tell anyone if that's what you want," he said. "Did you know their leader?"

"Lord N," he said quietly, with reverence. "Not really, but I did speak with him alone once. Maybe it wouldn't be important to you, but his words influenced me greatly. I remember, when things first fell apart, many of us didn't know what to do. People were being arrested and everything that we had been building towards had just fallen apart in minutes. There were some people who were getting bitter about him. But even at that point, I believed in him. I still do."

"What was he like?" Nate asked, although he was almost certain that he just saw it. Maybe if he knew more about this too, he might get closer to figuring out what happened to Hilda. How he didn't know, but his intuition suggested it was good to pursue.

"He isn't like anyone I've ever known, before or since," the breeder said, reminiscing with fondness. "I mean, you hear people talking about others having good hearts, or even pure hearts, but things may not be as they appear. But N had a pure heart, and I can say that with absolute certainty. He wanted to help everybody live in a better world, and never wanted to see another suffer. I wouldn't admit it back then, but he didn't really understand the world."

"Few people can understand the world," Nate said. Although once he said it, he wondered why. It was something he felt and yet knew that someone his age was unlikely to realize it fully.

The breeder scratched his head. "Possibly. Maybe it's better said that he didn't understand the normal world. He grew up without a lot of people around him, and for a while lived with only Pokemon in a forest. He thought there was only one proper course to life. So when he acknowledged that he had been wrong in that and agreed to stop his pursuit of the cause, I could understand why. But there were a lot who were angry about it." He shrugged. "I don't know where my colleagues have gone. When they started talking of him as a traitor, I ran away alone. I was really lost for a while, not knowing what to do with myself. But I remembered that one time I was able to talk with him, and he said that Pokemon need to be treated well."

"So you ended up taking up breeding to help them out," Nate guessed.

He nodded. "Right, and I'm happy with where I am now. Sometimes I wonder what Lord N is doing now. Later I heard that he had gone into hiding with his twin brother Hilbert, and they were going to learn things from the legendary dragons. Maybe we will see him change the world someday, in a different way then he intended back then."

"That might be interesting," he said. "Hey, thanks for telling me that."

"No, thanks for listening without judging me," the breeder said, bowing his head with relief. "I've been scared about people learning what I did but… not yet, but maybe I can tell other people in the future. There is something about you that reminds me of him. Maybe you might meet him too someday. I hope you can find your memory."

Nate nodded in thanks. He wasn't sure how useful knowing this would be. But the puzzle wasn't clear yet, so anything might be a piece to it.

* * *

By the time the party was over, it was late. Janine had invited Nate to stay over at their house in a guest room; Rosa was sleeping in her old room for tonight. Well, not sleeping yet. Bard was asleep, curled up on one end of the bed. River was doing her balance exercises on the end of Rosa's bed; she wasn't sure what the Riolu was doing with this particular exercise, but she did it often. Finn was back in his Pokeball, as he seemed to prefer sleeping there.

And Angel was on the lamp near Rosa's bed, partway up the post and looking up at the light. "Careful," Rosa said, putting her hand on the Sewaddle's body. "You shouldn't hurt your eyes by looking directly at the lightbulb."

"Sshhufff," Angel replied, letting go of the post and dropping into Rosa's hand. She righted herself as the girl brought her closer and sat up on the bed. Then she started snuffling Rosa's hand.

"Are you really starting to like me like Cheren thinks?" Rosa asked. "You did really well, he even said so. You're at least getting used to me, it seems, cause you don't try to hide when I get loud as much."

Angel looked at her, then licked her forelegs and started cleaning the hood of her leaf clothes. Since she didn't have a lot of room balancing on her hand, Rosa put her down by the pillow. Angel even gave her a little lick on being put down.

"Aw, thanks," she said. "You're nice, at least. And you're still not too much like a plant." She paused. "I don't know. I know other girls think the flowery Grass Pokemon are so pretty and elegant, but I've always been spooked by them. It's not like I was attacked by some rogue Grass Pokemon or something. Because my Mom works in Pokecenters, I've met a lot of Pokemon and not all of them were nice. And my Dad is a photographer; he works for a big magazine in Castelia, but he goes all over the world to get pictures of nature, really deep in the wilderness where most people wouldn't dare go. When he comes home, sometimes he takes me out on a hike to see wild Pokemon. But no matter how many Pokemon I met, I was always scared by the Grass types."

At that point, Angel paused in her cleaning and looked up at her. "Tssil."

"Wish I knew what you guys meant," Rosa said, plopping down on her pillow. "Most girls would say they were scared by Bug types, but that doesn't bug me about you. Or they're scared of Ghost or Dark types. I got teased sometimes because I didn't like Grass types. Oh, but don't take me wrong. I'm getting to like you too."

She sighed, then sat back up to turn her light off.

"Well, we've got to get back to work and toughen up so that we can beat Cheren too. Maybe I'll ask Nate what level his Pokemon are and we'll aim for that. I just hope Cheren isn't disappointed in me. I thought that maybe, if I got the badge from him first, then he'd get more interested in me. Ah, but he was friends with Hilda, wasn't he? Maybe he likes her better than he says."

Rosa tried to put that out of her mind for now, but she had an uneasy night.


	11. An Unlikely Prison

April 28

Aspertia

It took another week of training, but Rosa was able to return to Aspertia and defeat Cheren. She had gotten two of her four Pokemon over the level that Nate had won at, so it was actually an easy battle. This time, none of her Pokemon got knocked out. Cheren actually laughed at that. "Well your team has improved fast."

"We worked really hard," Rosa said, trying not to blush too much.

"I can tell," he said. "Just be careful to not work your Pokemon too hard. Still, yours seem happy and healthy, so you should be okay. And for your fine work, you have also earned the Basic Badge."

"Thank you," Rosa said as he passed over the gold badge to her. Was he really impressed with her? Maybe she'd gotten her chance to catch his eye now.

"Both of you are ready to move on then," Cheren said (instead, to her slight disappointment). "If you head on past Flocessy, you'll arrive at Virbank. There's another Gym there, so you should try your skills there. Just remember, as you keep earning badges, the challenges you get from Gym Leaders will get tougher and tougher. But I think with the respect you get from badges, you can get more people willing to talk to you both about what you're searching for."

"And we need to be exploring many places, so it's good to continue with the League along the way," Nate said.

Cheren nodded. "Of course. Well, keep in contact. I'll be keeping an eye on how you two are doing, but it's always best to hear it from you personally. Take care."

"Yeah, we'll send along any news we get about your friend," Rosa said, trying to find something to cover her disappointment. "You take care too. Come on, let's go!" She ran off out of the schoolyard.

Back on the street, Nate caught up with her. "Hey, what is it?"

She thought about saying nothing. He was a boy, after all, and boys didn't always get it. But, this was Nate. She turned to him. "I was so sure that he'd like me even more after I won against him. But I don't think it changed all that much."

"I'm sure he does respect you more," Nate said. "And you haven't really said anything to him about how you feel, right? Maybe he just doesn't realize it."

"Maybe," Rosa said, calming down at his words. "Or, is it because I only have one badge? Because he could go and become the League Champion right now if he wanted to. Well maybe not right now, now that he has to run the Gym here. But he's that good… maybe if I can earn eight badges too, then he'd see me in a different light and I could safely tell him how I feel."

"That's not exactly what I meant," Nate said.

Rosa ignored him. "So that's it. I'll keep my Pokemon happy and strong, and then he'll fall in love with me. Okay, let's do it!"

Nate chuckled and shook his head. "If that's what you think. But yes, let's head on to Virbank."

* * *

April 29

Virbank City

The three towns of Aspertia, Flocessy, and Virbank were fairly close together. Since they started out from Aspertia in the afternoon, they had to spend the night in Flocessy, then head down Route 20 to reach Virbank in the early afternoon. In the gatehouses, Rosa was excited to see her victory being announced on the electronic bulletin. It didn't state her name, but it did say that a Trainer from Aspertia had defeated the Aspertia Gym Leader Cheren on the day that she had won. It was the only such announcement on the board, though.

"They used to do a daily battle report there, and on the internet," Rosa said. "And some days, there would be dozens of wins to report. But in the past few years, participation in the League has dropped."

"I read about that," Nate said. "Seems like people are still influenced by Team Plasma's ideals, even after they came apart."

She nodded. "At least it seems the decent ideals came through, like treating Pokemon better. Hey, you think maybe if we do good enough, then we can spur on more interest in the League again? It seems sad that something that was a big part of everyone's lives and talk is still on a decline."

He shrugged. "Maybe. It might take more than just two people. But then, we could set a good example that others will want to follow."

"That sounds like a wonderful idea." She grinned in excitement, clapping her hands together. "So we've got to do really well here too! Great, I'll have to… ack!" She stumbled as she was trying to walk backwards, falling onto the floor.

"You have to watch where you're going," Nate said, giving her a teasing smile as he offered her a hand up.

"Oh, don't make fun of me," she said, but that didn't break her happiness for long.

Virbank was different from the other two towns he had seen, Nate quickly realized. It was very industrial. Large factories surrounded the town. Concrete walkways and roads took up much of the space, leaving only small patches of grass amid the houses and buildings. Not too far away, there were docks with large cranes in sight. Heading down the road, they found that they were on a raised walkway above the harbor, hence why so much was trying to cram into this small area.

The Pokecenter was a short walk from the gatehouse, but before they could get in, a pair coming out of the center made them stop. "Get real," the woman of the pair said sharply. She had white hair that was pulled up on top of her head, but she had the face of someone in her twenties. "You have an important job to do."

"You do as well," the man said, with gray hair and definitely looking older than her. He wore a hat that seemed nautical, a mock-off of a navy captain's hat (or maybe it was that). "If you can lead a band and run a Gym, then who's to say that I can't run a ferry and be a movie star?"

"I can make time for both! But people depend on you to get to and from here. You're going to cause a lot of trouble in delaying the ferry."

"But I'm not the only ferry, just busiest right now. It'll be fine; the others can pick up the slack. I'm after my dreams." He waved and headed off down the street.

"Argh!" the woman growled, clenching a fist to her chest. "You dim-witted... dense... dumb... daft... dippy... dorky... doltish DOFUS! Doing double duty isn't the problem! You're causing problems for people! Keeping people from getting where they're going because of sheer selfishness is unforgivable! I've HAD it! I'm going to the Gym!" And she strode off without noticing them.

"Whoa," Rosa said. "Uh, can't they have the drama inside?"

"Do you remember what we talked about after you got the badge?" Nate reminded her. "Back in the street?"

"Ooooo..." she blushed, then brushed loose strands of hair aside. "Fine, I suppose you can't really plan drama. But they're adults; they should have it settled by the time we get around to the Gym."

He shrugged. "Who knows? Let's see what's around town, so we can figure out how to plan the next few weeks."

They found some stores past the Pokecenter, but much of this town was taken up by docks, warehouses, and small factories. At the north end of town, there was a gatehouse that led to Pokestar Studios, but they weren't allowed past. There was a preschool where children and Pokemon played, but that wasn't like the school in Aspertia where there would be Trainers their age. While there was also a regular school, it seemed to be smaller and not much suited for battles.

A place that was suited for battles, even suggested by locals, was Virbank Complex, an area in and around where an oil refinery was located. Surprisingly, there was a large amount of grassy lots there and much of it was open for Trainers to battle or look for wild Pokemon. A few areas weren't public, but they were clearly marked as such. Overhead, there were large pipes crossing between various containers; it seemed like it might been be possible to walk over them.

There was one building near the entrance that was blocked off, but in an unusual manner. It was taped off with bright yellow caution tape. A worker was standing there, taking photos. Feeling curious, Rosa went closer to the building. "Excuse me, but what's going on with this place?"

"Hmm?" He looked up, then back to the building. "It's coming down. Not today, and it's not all that dangerous, so don't worry about being around it."

"Why's it coming down if it's not dangerous?" she asked.

"You'd know if you went inside, but I don't recommend that," the worker said. "It's been a magnet for bad luck, which is understandable. See this place, there were two legendary Pokemon that had been captured and held here for decades. And it just got worse when they were discovered, as whatever..." he waved a hand a bit, "bad spirit about it, if you'll excuse the term, was released instead of being pent up. I didn't believe in superstitions before, but it's giving everyone the creeps."

So that was where...? Rosa shivered. "Oh, I see."

"They were found two years ago," Nate pointed out. "Why did it get left up?"

"We wanted to be rid of it once we realized that it was bad business." He shook his head. "But there were complications about who really owned the place and where he was. They found some bones a few months back and it's only been recently confirmed to be this guy, Umber. With that, we could finally get rid of it."

"And we could go in there, if we wanted?" Nate asked.

"If you wanted, yes, but really, I don't recommend it unless you've got nerves of steel," the worker said, then moved on with his assessment.

"You're not seriously thinking of going in there, are you?" Rosa asked, worried and a little scared. What if it turned out that Nate was Keldeo's reborn form? It was weird that one of the legendary swordmon Pokemon would be reborn as a human, and it didn't quite match up to Nate's memory. But, his memory wasn't reliable and if it turned out that he was, then going back in there would surely trigger a bad flashback.

"Well Hilda's disappearance is related to what's going on with Keldeo," he said, a lot calmer about it that she was. "I might see something in there."

"It might be horrible! And you'd get a headache out of it too."

To that, Nate just smiled warmly at her. "Thanks for being worried, but I can't let that stop me. Still, if I did see something, the side effects would knock me out for the rest of the day. Maybe we'll train around the complex until evening and then go in."

Go in that place with bad spirits, at night? Somehow, that didn't seem like a much better idea. "I don't like the sound of that."

"It's better to know then to turn away in fear." And with that, he seemed to feel that the issue was settled.

* * *

The few hours they got in training their Pokemon were tough, but worth it. The wild Pokemon here were much stronger than those on the routes. Not only that, but there was a Poison type living in the complex, the Koffing, so that gave Rosa a preview of what they'd be fighting against. Unfortunately, it seemed that Angel was going to have a hard time with it, as the poison really hurt her. Even her leaf cloak had started to wilt after the battle was over. It made her heart seem to ache seeing the Sewaddle shudder like that, so she had hurried back to the Pokecenter to clear that up. Fortunately, Bard, Finn, and River were strong enough to take out to few Koffings Rosa had come across.

In the evening, when the lights all over the complex were bright enough to block out the stars, they met back up at the entrance to the doomed building. There was a handle which seemed out of place, given that the whole wall had been plastered smooth at one point. Nate didn't seem to be afraid; neither did Ruby, as the Tepig snuffled around the door, checking the place out. Angel was half asleep on Rosa's shoulder due to the sun setting and Bard never seemed down for long. As for Finn, it was hard to tell with is default fierce face markings. The Basculin swam in place, watching them to see what they were going to do.

But Rosa still felt nervous about entering. And, so did River. The Riolu tugged at Rosa's black leggings, leaning away from the building and looking up at her with wide eyes. She pointed to the building and shook her head.

"River doesn't think this is a good idea either," Rosa said.

"The guy said it wasn't dangerous," he reminded her. "And it's not like they've begun the demolition process. There's likely nothing but memories in there, but those memories might be ones I need."

"Memories of when two Pokemon were held captive against their will. With the way memories affect you, that could be trouble."

Nate looked back at her. "I appreciate the concern, but I'd have to check out this place sooner or later. I could just go in with my Pokemon if you want to stay out of it."

"Hmph, you don't have to be rude about it. Okay, okay, but if you get that look on your face, I'm pulling you out." She looked down at River. "It is odd for her to seem spooked. She's so calm and stoic most of the time."

"The Pokedex says that she can read auras, so old feelings might linger and be visible to her," Nate said, opening the door. "Snapper, come on."

From nearby, the Mareep stood still. His eyes were closed. "I think he fell asleep again," Rosa said.

"Great," Nate said sarcastically, taking out a Pokeball and recalling the Mareep. Snapper seemed to have lost much of his enthusiasm once they beat Cheren. The past few days, he didn't even want to walk around with Nate and Ruby. "I've got to find a better way to motivate him. Well, let's go." He walked in after Ruby and switched a nearby light switch.

For some reason, the electricity was still on for this building. One light was out, but they could see most of the interior. It was an empty office building where nothing had been left behind. Being empty and now devoid of purpose, it should have been non-threatening. Maybe it was to Nate and three of the Pokemon (four, since Angel seemed fully asleep). But it made Rosa's hairs stand on end. River stayed close to her, looking around as if she suspected something dangerous might be around.

The second floor was even more empty, without interior walls. There were some ominous looking metal things on the floor and ceiling, but they were inactive and still. But the feeling of something being wrong was even stronger here. In this place, Rosa could imagine being locked up or tied down in helplessness, knowing there was an entire city outside but that the chances of being noticed were extremely slim. How could anyone be so mean to a Pokemon? Not even considering how special they had been. She turned aside and rubbed at her eyes, not wanting Nate to notice that she was tearing up at the thought.

In the meantime, Nate had stepped into the large rectangle made by the metal strips on the floor. "Possibly an energy barrier, useless now," he said. Then he closed his eyes and was motionless.

For a worryingly long time. Rosa wanted to leave, but she didn't want to leave him alone there. "Are you getting anything?"

"Not like before, but it's like there's something at the edge of my notice," he said. "Maybe another spot..."

River suddenly barked, startling because she didn't often make noise. The two teens both looked at her, pointing to a spot on the wall. Over there, it was just a white wall. Or was it? Something changed and a Pokemon appeared there. It was humanoid but small, with green hair spilling over part of her face and a black covering over her body like a dress. With her hands clasped near her chest, she spoke without moving her lips. "What are you doing here? This is a terrible place. I wouldn't come in if I didn't sense you."

"Are you... Meloetta?" Nate asked.

She nodded and put her hands down. "Yes, that's me. What are you doing here?"

Since she was one of the legends, he explained what they were doing. Rosa nodded slowly at the end of it. "Yeah, he wanted to come even thought I tried to talk him out of it. This place is spooky."

"I suppose if you were searching for someone, you would need to look at important places, even tragic ones," Meloetta said. "I do not know about Hilda, but I know that something has happened to Kyurem."

"What happened with him?" Nate asked.

"The past winter was mild, with lots of rain." She shook her head. "I don't know what, but something has muffled his powers. When I think on him, I sense a great sadness and loneliness. It is strange coming from him; I looked and couldn't find him."

"We're looking for Keldeo too, since Hilda was looking for him," Rosa said, reminding her of that part of Nate's story.

Meloetta put her hand to her cheek. "Are you? But Keldeo is here."

"Why would he still be here?" Nate asked. "We haven't seen him."

"Uhh," she looked down, lost in thought for a moment. "Keldeo... maybe he has not yet remembered who he is. You seem to be close. Please, be kind to him." Then Meloetta vanished, apparently not wanting to stay in this place any longer then she had to.

* * *

May 2

Keldeo had been with them. Nate thought over that for the next few days while he worked on training his Pokemon. Maybe he was living as another Pokemon? If he stayed as the same type, then there was Bard, Finn, and River to consider. Finn didn't seem like anything special; he seemed battle-thirsty for being on Rosa's team, bored if he wasn't in a fight. Bard seemed too carefree and silly, while River was composed and serious about keeping in good shape. That is, save for when she'd been spooked about going in the building. Then again, that made the Riolu more likely than the Oshawott or Basculin.

But he might not even be of the same type. That gave potential to Rosa's other Pokemon Angel and his two in Snapper and Ruby. Angel seemed like a stretch, being shy and easily scared, but that might be a result of what happened to Keldeo in his last incarnation. Ruby had the kind of loyalty and drive one might expect from the legends he was reading at night. As for Snapper...

Nate was almost certain that it wasn't Snapper. Once he'd been taken off the ranch, the Mareep proved to be lazy and troublesome. It was a disappointment, as Nate had seen him defeat the other Mareep in their games of strength and Snapper did all right in some battles. But most of the time he was like he was now, staying in one spot in the shorter grass to munch on it, not even motivated enough to take more than a couple of steps to get to more grass. Besides, Snapper had been in his Pokeball when they spoke with Meloetta. Only the fact that the Pokeball was there made him a possibility.

"Snapper, you're falling behind," Nate told him. "If you're not going to be serious, I'll take you back to Flocessy Ranch and release you there. We need you to cooperate."

"Meeehh," Snapper replied, not moving.

Ruby snorted in irritation. Whatever the Mareep had said didn't sit well with her.

Did he try to break through to Snapper and get his friendship? Or should he just try again with another Pokemon? Nate was leaning strongly towards the latter, and he had a good idea of what he wanted. "Okay, then." He recalled Snapper, then headed into the grassy areas further from the path. Going deeper into the area led to stronger Pokemon, he had noticed. If he could find a Audino, they seemed unusually happy to act as a sparring partner to others. One had even tossed a berry at Ruby to help heal her so she didn't get knocked out too quickly.

Further in, he ran into a lot of the same Pokemon: Koffings, Growlithes, Magbies, Patrats, and even a couple of Grimers. But then he saw three of what he was looking for, Magnemites. Nate wanted to watch them like he had with the Mareep (the best he could do without save-scumming and RNG counting available), but the three Pokemon noticed him too quickly. They flew over, but then seemed to be in a bit of squabble about who would fight.

"Hey, you three," he said. "Yeah, I'm looking to capture one of you, but I need a Pokemon who's willing to travel across Unova with me and work hard with us. I'll treat you like I do anyone, but I definitely don't want any slackers around."

"Gruh, ge," Ruby said, wagging her tail. Hopefully speaking for him too.

With that said, one of the Magnemites backed off, going elsewhere. The two who remained decided to attack him at once, causing Ruby to hurry ahead to get him out of range of the battle. Nate brought Snapper back out. "Ruby, Flame Charge one of them. Snapper, follow up with Thunder Wave... don't go to sleep now."

But the Mareep didn't seem that interested. Why was he such a problem? He didn't have the collar of the ranch Pokemon. Maybe he had been captured before and had a bad experience with it. But then, Snapper hadn't been troubled when he'd brought out a Pokeball to catch him. Or had he, and Nate just didn't notice?

At any rate, Ruby picked a target and knocked it right out. Nate expected something like that, but hoped for something else. Snapper didn't do anything, so Ruby did the same attack on the other Magnemite. This one squeaked at the attack, getting knocked back in the air a couple of feet. But it came back, still floating as it used a small electric attack at the Tepig. If his memory was right, that was the one he wanted. He had picked up some Great Balls earlier, so used one of them just to make sure the capture went right.

"I feel like calling it Argent," Nate said, retrieving the ball. Then he looked back at Snapper, who had not moved from his spot to nibble at some grass. "Do you even care? Well let's get back to the Pokecenter."

He called over to Rosa and told her he was going for a walk elsewhere for a few hours. She seemed to be all right with that, more focused on training her Pokemon. At the Pokecenter, he healed up the Pokemon and then had to use the public PC there to release Snapper. Supposedly there were tools that could allow one to release a Pokemon anywhere, but he had no idea where one would buy something like that. The program that ran the Storage Boxes could be used for that purpose, and that was free.

After the bond was broken, Snapper reappeared near the computer. Nate wondered for a moment how he should say goodbye to him. While he wasn't that cooperative, he had still helped against Cheren. "Well you're free now, but I'll keep my word and go with you back to the ranch. Shall we go?"

"Baah," the Mareep said, shaking himself.

He took a few steps towards the door. "Please?"

Thankfully, Snapper followed him out of the Pokecenter, along with Ruby and Argent. The latter two seemed to be chatting, based on how they reacted to each other's oinks and buzzes. It struck him as being odd, knowing that Ruby had knocked out the other Magnemite in one hit and nearly got this one too but then seeing Argent acting playfully towards her. He would dip and bob at her in the air, bopping her in the side. She would squeal, then run around in circles trying to bop him back while also trying to keep up with Nate. From observing her for the past couple of months, he knew she was having a good time from her alert but pleased expression.

On the other hand, Snapper did his best to ignore them. Once they were past the gatehouse, he stopped a few feet out and started eating grass. Nate tried to call to him, but he wouldn't budge. "Well, you are free to do what you want. Take care of yourself." Then he went back to the complex to get back to training.

But he had to wonder if he hadn't made a mistake somewhere, and what that mistake had been.

* * *

Snapper the Mareep stayed by the gatehouse; grass was good pretty much anywhere, even if it tasted a little different in each location. At one time, he thought he'd wanted to go on a journey with some young Trainer in order to get stronger and see the world. After all, it was what every other young Pokemon around him wanted. He had even rough-housed with others to be a strong one that would be picked out above the others. And it had worked with Nate.

But then he'd underestimated how much work it was to be a battling Pokemon. Nate was a nice guy and that almost made up for it. He was also a serious kid, and thus had drilled him and Ruby in many fights. At first, Snapper had tried his best. But it just wasn't any fun now that he was a Trainer's Pokemon. He began to wish for lazy days at the ranch, where the sun was warm and there wasn't anything to do but munch on grass and enjoy the weather. After he had helped to defeat a Gym, his motivation to keep battling just bottomed out. This wasn't the life for him.

At least he was now free to do what he wanted. He didn't even have to return to the ranch, which would be nice as there would be less competition from other Mareep and less questions of why he was back. While the lack of sneaking into the barn in bad weather was a downer, he might just hang around out here until autumn. Or even winter.

"Look look, it's a Mareep!" a little boy said, running closer to him. "Do you think I can catch it?"

"It might belong to someone," a woman with him said.

"But there's nobody out here," the boy said, coming right in front of his face.

So Snapper spit at him. It made the boy cry, but he didn't much care. He simply moved a short ways off and resumed eating.

* * *

Virbank

May 19

The weather was rough that day, with winds whipping up the waves around the dock area. Despite that, Rosa went down to get a closer look at the sea. Her brown hair was threatening to come out of the looped ponytails that she wore every day and the salt water spattered over her clothes despite her raincoat. Where many other girls wouldn't have been happy, it gave Rosa a thrill to be in the middle of it all. The only one of her Pokemon that didn't love it (that was Bard) or didn't mind it (that was River and Finn) was Angel, who tried to hide from the storm against Rosa's neck. So she recalled her and walked along the dock paths with her other three.

Ahead of her, Bard was twirling around and singing in the wind, slowing down in his spinning but then falling backwards into the water. Rosa laughed. "You definitely meant to do that!" she called, kneeling down and offering him a hand out. The water droplets from the larger waves hit her face, but it felt nice. Then the wind gusted through the lower portion of Virbank, pushing her over backwards as she pulled Bard out. "Whoa! Ha ha, no fair wind!"

There was another roar as the gust continued, grabbing her visor and flipping it down the dock. Rosa scrambled to her feet to chase after it, but River did a face palm and then dashed after it faster than Rosa could run. Still, even the Riolu didn't get the visor; something else did.

They caught up to see what had gotten her visor: it looked like a large blob of pink jelly sprawled on the dock. But it definitely had a tentacle that clung to the visor, and black eyes that opened up to look at them. "Oh, is it a jellyfish?" Rosa asked. "Or a jellyfish Pokemon? I've heard of them. You must've gotten blown up from the storm, but... you seem kinda cool. Hey, can I capture you? I'll get you to the Pokecenter to be checked out and then we can figure out what to do."

As the wind had slowed briefly, the jellyfish tossed the visor back at Rosa. That was a good clue that it was a Pokemon rather than a simple jellyfish. Rosa put the visor back on and dug in her bag for a new Pokeball. But then the jellyfish swatted at River. It wasn't going to break tradition by letting her get it without a fight. At first, she wasn't able to figure out why River's attacks weren't working. Only Assurance got it before Rosa decided to just throw the Pokeball and hope for the best (especially in this inclement weather).

Bard immediately went chasing after the Pokeball, apparently thinking it was some toy. But at least that reaction made sure the ball didn't get blown around and dropped into the bay. Rosa clapped her hands. "Bard, bring it over to me!"

"Oossh!" The Oshawott grabbed the ball in both paws and held it at arm's length with both paws while waddling back to her.

"Good boy," Rosa said, giving him a hug as she took the Pokeball. After another short gust, she added, "As fun as this is, I don't want to lose my visor or any of you. Let's get out of here." While Finn snorted at her comment, they hurried along the dock back to the staircase that led back up.

At the top, Nate was waiting on them with his new Magnemite and Pignite out. "What were you doing down there?" he asked. "It's dangerous to be around the water in this kind of weather."

Ruby gave a small snort, not looking too bothered even though the rain hissed upon hitting her.

She gave them a grin. "Don't worry, I can swim! And so can these ones, and another I just caught! At least I assume so, as I haven't looked yet."

"Nice, but let's at least get back inside before finding out," he said. "I could go for a warm meal tonight after this stormy day."

"Fine, let's get to the Pokecenter," she said, hurrying along the road and only slowing because the wind made her.

They were dripping water by the time they got in there, but the center staff had added a large coat hanger at the entrance for raincoats. There were still wet footprints on the floor, indicating that they weren't the only ones who had tried to be out this afternoon. After getting her team healed up, Rosa checked the Pokeball and the Pokedex to figure out what she'd caught. It turned out to be a Frillish, another Water type, but she was also a Ghost type.

"That makes her different!" Rosa said happily. "I think I'll keep her. You okay with this?"

Now that she was attached to a Pokeball, the Frillish was able to keep well hydrated with technology. Watching her float there was like watching a pink water balloon with large light ribbons bobbing in the air. She had a small face, so she smiled at the question. "Wooorooo."

"Awesome, so..." she thought about it, but then a name seemed obvious. "You'll be Medusa!"

Medusa seemed to coo as she bounced in place.

"Isn't Medusa the name of a mythological monster?" Nate asked.

"Is it?" Rosa asked, puzzled. "I know it's the name of an adult jellyfish, the non-Pokemon ones."

"That's so. I guess she is different." Nate smiled too. "Looks like you're getting a team you like."

She laughed. "Yeah! What about you?"

"I like these two," he said, looking to Ruby. "I've been thinking about what other Pokemon to look for. But, we'll see."

* * *

May 23

At the complex area, there were a series of round pipes that hung eight feet over the ground. They were just wide enough for a human to walk on, although it would be hard for them to balance. On the other hand, River was able to stay standing still up there for her balance exercises. It was important to have good balance. Flow like the water and wind, to be graceful at any speed, to be nimble in battle. That was what she had been taught when she was a young pup. While she felt she had good mastery over that, River still didn't have much power. At least, she didn't think so. She was under a Trainer now, so this should be a good opportunity to become a truly great fighter.

Should be. The Riolu had known that she would be best off with a human Trainer; it was just a matter of when she'd find one. When wondering about it before, she thought that maybe she'd find a human master of martial arts. Or maybe one who was already a great Trainer who would know how to bring out the best in her. Instead, she ended up with a novice Trainer, a girl who had more enthusiasm than grace in her movements.

Below her, she could see Rosa using Finn to battle a wild Audino while some other girls from Virbank had paused in their walk to watch briefly. "Come on, it can't take that much longer to beat him," Rosa said.

The Audino spun around, dancing more than properly fighting. "Hah ha, that's what you think! Come on and try me." He made an insulting gesture that most humans tended to mistake for a cute ear wiggle.

"You're foolish to think you can beat a proud warrior of the blue tribe!" the Basculin said before ramming his body into the Audino.

However, the pink Pokemon merely laughed again, tossing an oran berry in the air. "Who said what I was thinking? That is, what I think now is that that attack wasn't any more hurtful than being slapped with a dead fish. Wooo, wimpy fins! I don't even need healing from that."

"You'll pay for that insult," Finn growled, waggling his tail fin in preparation for his next attack. "Take this!" But the Audino just jumped aside and slapped the Basculin with his paws.

"Why're you fighting with such a slimy Pokemon?" one of the Virbank girls asked. River crossed her arms over her chest on hearing that. That girl had an aura of someone who liked to be pampered, one who'd rather others do all the work for her. If the Riolu had run into her when looking for a Trainer, she would have steered wide and clear away.

"He is not slimy," Rosa insisted, looking away from the battle. "He's adorable."

The Audino laughed at that, shaking its head. Finn grunted. "What're you laughing about? She says that I'm strong."

"No she's not," the Audino teased. "She means that you're a dainty fin! Dainty fin, wimpy fin!" Then he ate the berry he had.

"You've got weird tastes," the girl said, then headed on with her friends.

While River would agree that Rosa had weird ideas of what made a Pokemon adorable (that toothy menace, who'd probably be happy if he got a scar for show?), that wasn't enough to dismiss her on. The fact that her inexperience showed painfully and that she seemed frivolous had been initially why River had tried to escape. But then, there was something else to her. Rosa's aura was peculiar. It hadn't seemed like much at first, nothing to investigate. Yet the longer River stayed around Rosa, the more apparent that difference stood out.

It wasn't like with Nate. Nate had a strange aura for a human too: all mixed up, not quite fitting in to his surroundings, seeming older than his appearance. However, he was definitely human and he had a chance at unscrambling things himself. Rosa most often seemed human, but occasionally something seemed to shine out from within, a power that belonged to a Pokemon. At first, River had thought it was that charm of Keldeo that the girl wore, since the Pokemon aura coming off her was definitely Water-based. Then they had gone into that abandoned building and met Meloetta, who claimed that Keldeo was with them. That tiny sword could be reacting with Keldeo's spirit, but it seemed significant that Rosa was holding onto it.

After another minute of fighting, Finn finally won over the rude Audino. Rosa hugged him. "Good job, even if it seemed to take forever."

"He kept growling my power away," the Basculin said, still irritated at it. "He can stay away forever."

"Yay, you won!" Bard called, hopping over and waving with Medusa. Bard was now a Dewott, which meant that it was harder for Finn to escape his hugs. River usually noted his intent before not allowing him to hug her.

"Okay, I think you did enough practice, so..." Rosa let go of Finn and looked around. "Let's see, there's you two and... River! Where are you?"

"River!" Bard called, turning around to look. "I'm gonna hug you one of these days, and it'll be sooner if you're lazy!"

The Riolu sighed, then kicked the pipe she was standing on. It did get their attention. "I've been doing my own exercises," she said. "And keep your hugs to yourself."

Rosa laughed at seeing her up there. "Wow, you got high up! How'd you get there?"

For a moment, River considered if it would be wise to let her know. Then again, she'd probably look anyhow. She pointed to the stairs that led up to this level. "I'm going to have to watch you carefully if you get up here."

As she thought, Rosa decided to come up to the pipes with her. Bard followed along and was soon dancing along another pipe; he at least had good balance too. River opted to keep an eye on their Trainer. Hopefully, she could do something to keep her from breaking her bones. Maybe Medusa or Finn could catch her, as their water bubbles let them swim freely through the air as long as they weren't focused on battling.

Rosa did have the sense to keep her arms out and move slowly. She paused, then took a step back. "Whoa, this is easier when I'm moving. How're you staying still? Maybe it's cause you're smaller."

"And I practice my balance every day," River said. "I want to see you try something."

"How're you going to ask her?" Bard asked, coming up on the Riolu's other side. The pipes criss-crossed each other, creating multiple paths.

"I may have to try different ways," River replied. Then she pointed up to the tiny sword on Rosa's necklace.

"Oh, did you want to practice martial arts with me?" Rosa asked, getting completely the wrong idea. "Normally I spar on a mat, not a pipe off the ground like this. And I'm not that far along. I've got a green belt... that's not much."

River put her paws on her hips. "That might show what I want to see. But I don't know if I want to try teaching a human to fight with her fists. I had enough trouble teaching my daughter a few years back."

By then, Bard had managed to be hanging below the bar. "Wow, you're a mother already? I didn't think you were that old."

"Yeah, well it happened while I've been preparing myself," River said while the Dewott got himself back on top of the pipe. "I've seen fifteen winters and my daughter has seen five. Anyhow, I think that sword can do something. Draw it."

Rosa still thought they were talking about sparring. "And while you might be smaller than me, I think you could beat me easily. Maybe if I had some armor or something... I do have a sword!" She laughed as she pulled out the tiny sword from its necklace case. "A little bitty one that's might draw a tiny bit of blood, but not enough to win with." She then put it back.

"Maybe it has to be drawn in a particular fashion?" River thought aloud, tapping a foot on the pipe. "Like quickly, or with a chant."

"Or flashy!" Bard said, pretending to draw a sword quickly. He continued his play by fighting off some imaginary foe opposite of River. "Come on, we'll fight back to back like badass buddies!"

She looked back at him. "Your form is more suited to your shells; you might want to stick with them over trying to learn swordsmanship."

Rosa clapped her hands. "Oh, are you going to be the next Errol Flynn? That would be sweet. Maybe you could even make this little thing look awesome, like this!" She then drew the sword out quickly and sweeping it down and forward, trying to be dramatic.

And it was more dramatic than she intended, as the sword decided to no longer be tiny. Instead, it turned itself into a blue and silver longsword. The end of the handle even had a longer version of the lock of Keldeo's hair. Despite the fact that she wasn't expecting it, the sword kept her balanced on the pipe.

"Whoa, how did that happen?" Rosa asked, staring at the sword with wide eyes.

"Wow, I wish I had a real sword like that," Bard said, pausing in his play to admire it.

"It's like Meloetta said," River said, bowing her head. "Keldeo is with us and the sword reacts to his spirit. Or rather, hers."

"What do you mean?" Medusa asked. The Frillish made her tentacles flutter below her. "Rosa has a very strong spirit, I can taste that. But where's Keldeo? I've never met a legendary Pokemon before."

"I think she's Keldeo," River said, pointing to Rosa. "But she doesn't remember, so her power doesn't show well. But that sword might be a key to revealing the truth."

"I don't know what to do with this," Rosa said, holding the sword up in front of her. "Huh, I wonder if Mom and Dad knew it could grow like this. But what do I do with a sword?" As she questioned it, the sword returned to its tiny size. "That's weird. I'll have to figure it out." She put it back, but then as she glanced around, she slipped off the pipe, managing to catch it with her hands on her way down.

"Eep, Rosa!" Bard ran towards River, so the Riolu jumped over him so that he didn't knock them both off too.

"Ack, I don't think I want to be up here much longer," Rosa said, forcing a smile at them. Then she looked down. "Thank goodness for leggings." Then she dropped to the ground. "Well come on, we can't let Nate's team get too far ahead of us!"

"Yay!" Bard called, leaping off the pipe. Now that Rosa was fine, he was happy again.

"Right," River said, jumping down to join them.


	12. Opportunity Knocks

May 27

They had been in Virbank for nearly a month when they decided to try out the Gym. Even though they had been there that long, it took a little while to find the Gym. It was a slim building, less than half the size of the buildings around it. However, it did have a neon Pokeball sign above the entrance, and the sign nearby said it was the 'Koffing Rock Club' and the Virbank City Gym.

Walking into the staircase, Rosa was reminded of a subway; it had that kind of bright yet sparse lighting, along with roughed up walls with peeling paint and many colorful posters. But some of it seemed artfully worn. Like the peeled paint, when she took a closer look as she walked by. Most of the areas where posters could be put had smoother paint, even if there were various patches of whites and grays. The peels were out of the way.

"Make sure to watch your step," Nate said teasingly. "This staircase is steep and you'd knock me down if you fall."

"Hey, I don't always fall," she said, right before she nearly tripped off the last step before a small square landing. She just laughed it off, looking at the posters around. There were a lot about bands, especially Roxie's own. Further down, they could hear the drum beats of a loud song. It grew more and more distinct as they came down.

By the time they reached the reception desk, they could even hear the vocals. There was a guy there with black hair spiked up with yellow tips. He also had a black tank top with a logo of the club on it. "Afternoon, kids," he said. "The band's in practicing, but if you're here for the Gym, I can give them a holler for a break."

"Sure, both of us are here to challenge Roxie," Nate said, getting his card and team ready to register.

"All right," he said, getting the scanner ready. "She doesn't have any particular method to the Gym, so you'll just see what you get." Once they were registered, the guy made a call, having them wait. The song stopped while the challenge was arranged. Then he hung up the phone. "Go on ahead, and good luck."

Inside, they were met with a mostly empty club, one that seemed like it should be much busier. The tables and chairs were scattered about. At one table, there was a man in blue slacks and a fancy blue shirt with a matching scarf. Another man was sitting in a corner, somehow finding time to study and type on his computer with the band practice going on. Up on a platform, there was a dark skinned man in dreadlocks running the sound equipment. The Gym staff appeared to be on stage. There was a large man in a leather vest at the drums, and a young woman with a long purple ponytail on the guitar.

Roxie was in the center, as another guitarist and the vocalist. At first, Rosa wasn't sure where she'd seen her before; she had a white ponytail similar to the guitarist, only not as long. She wore an oversized striped shirt that happened to match her guitar. She had probably seen Roxie on TV, but after thinking that, she remembered when they had first come into Virbank. She had been the one arguing with the man outside the Pokecenter. But, that wasn't important to them, right?

"We've got two of you at once, huh?" Roxie asked, clutching her guitar in a confident poise. "Same badge level, same time... you two rivals or sweethearts?"

"N-neither!" Rosa said, stopping a few feet from the stage. In the meantime, the two others on stage put away their instruments.

"We're cooperating for the most part," Nate said, not as bothered.

Roxie smirked. "But after the same goal, since you're both in the League challenger roster. You're going to end up as competitors sooner or later. Then, how about sooner? Each of you will battle one of my band members, and whichever one of you wins faster gets to challenge me first. Right then, let's see you do it!" She pointed for her band members, and Gym Trainers to challenge them.

They were competitors? Rosa hadn't thought about that much, even when they battled each other for practice. But she didn't get long to think about it before the guitarist and drummer dropped off stage. Rosa ended up fighting against the guitarist. Finn wound up getting poisoned, but he managed to win the battle on his own.

But Nate was still in battle with the drummer, as his Magnemite was fighting against a Grimer. So she had to fight Roxie first.

* * *

Undella Bay

"Hey mister!" a girl's voice called out over the waves. "Careful of the rising tide!"

Surrounded by the salty scent of the ocean, Colress smiled at the concern of the stranger. The warm waters were inching in to cover the pale sandbar he was standing on. Triste happened to be looking out to her; he pointed with one of his hands, making the small lights there blink individually. "Heeeii," the Elgyem said.

He turned around to see who it was, part out of curiosity and part out of caution. On seeing the girl riding on a two-headed Dragon Pokemon in the waves, he wondered if Triste managed to recognize the importance of her. "It's no trouble, miss," he said, waving to her. "The person I'm waiting on shouldn't be much longer."

"I hope it's not much longer for you to wait, cause the tide can come in quick," she said. "You do have a surfing Pokemon, don't you?"

Colress shook his head. "Nope. I'm not worried, though. Say, you're the Champion, Iris, aren't you? What would you be doing out here?"

As he thought, hearing that he didn't have a Pokemon to get him back to shore got her to direct her dragon to the sandbar he was on. "Yup, that's me," Iris said. "I'm training my Pokemon out here, as swimming's a good exercise for them. You sure you're okay?" She hopped off onto the sand as soon as she could.

"I have faith in my co-worker," he said, taking out his tablet from his bag. "It's quite lucky that you came along, though. My name is Colress, and I'm a scientist studying Pokemon training."

"Oh really?" she said, her black eyes brightening in interest. "I've heard about you! You were hanging around Lenora's Gym for a while watching the Trainers."

He nodded. "That's right. Would you mind allowing me an interview about how you train your Pokemon?"

"Hmmm..." she looked down at the water's edge, creeping back and forth, mostly forth. "Maybe not here. But what're you studying Trainers for?"

"Training, although trainers are involved," he explained. "Actually, my original interest was seeing how to bring out the best in any Pokemon, how to raise them to their max potential. While we've made tremendous advances over the past century, I'm sure that there's more we can do to help them out. I've narrowed my focus down on training itself for now, although there's many aspects I'm investigating over the long term. What I'd like to do is eventually have a Pokemon of unexpected power, still within healthy and happy limits of course. A person like yourself would be valuable to my study."

"I think my grandpa would be a bigger help than me," Iris said, smiling proudly. "I may be the regional Champion, but I am still learning; he's a real living master."

He gave a nod to that. "Yes, but all sorts are important to proper research."

Then, Triste came up and poked his shoulder. "Eeeesa," he warbled, pointing to the ocean.

Colress turned around. "Oh, is she coming up?"

A moment later, a Wailmer surfaced close to the sandbar, carrying a member of Team Plasma on its back. Of course, the agent was dressed in an unmarked diving suit with a scuba tank on her back, so it was impossible for an outsider to know she was a part of the team. The diver got off the Wailmer's back and walked over to them. After shifting her breathing tube aside, she said, "Uh, s-sir..."

"I already said that it's fine for you to call me by name," he said. At least when she couldn't be identified as a part of the team.

"R-right, Colress," she said, taking a small waterproof bag off her belt. "Here, I got what you asked for: sand from the, the lowest floor we could reach. And just in time too, it seems."

He smiled wide as he took the bag of wet sand from her. "Ah, excellent. See, I told you it could be done. Thank you."

"Ye-yeah," she said, looking down and seeming relieved.

"What's that for?" Iris asked, tilting her head up at them.

"Voodoo," Colress said without hesitation.

That made the girl laugh while the woman from Plasma tensed slightly. "Voodoo? But I thought you said you were a scientist, not a witch doctor."

He turned to her, raising a finger up and shaking it reprovingly. "Ah, that is true. Just because I believe in science doesn't mean I have no interest in old superstitions. There's always a grain of truth somewhere in them; one just needs to filter out the mystique from the substance. For instance, those frail gems those witch doctors and gypsies use often can be proven to have power. One just has to find the right way to use it." He then looked at the diver. "Well then, shall we go? I was going to talk to the young lady here in Undella, but if you have your own business, we can part at the beach."

"Right, we'd better go before this sandbar vanishes," she said.

"Okay, I'll meet you at the Coral Cafe!" Iris said, heading back to her Dragon. Colress waded out into the water far enough to get on the Wailmer's back with the diver and they all headed to shore.

* * *

Virbank Gym

"Yow, you both got me today," Roxie said, grinning and putting her guitar on her back now that the battle was over. "You both work so well with your teams, even if you are only on your second badge. Speaking of which, here's your Toxic Badge. Keep it with pride."

"Sure thing," Nate said, grinning as he accepted it.

"You'll be moving on, I guess?" When they nodded, she came off the stage. "Well you have the Aspertia badge, and at this time, there aren't any other Gyms for the Unova League on this side of the bay. You're going to need to cross the water. I'm going to check up on the old man about the ferry. Don't worry none; find something to do and check up on the ferry house in the evening. Guys, take a break for half an hour."

"Right, thanks," Rosa said. She turned to Nate. "Then, what should we do?"

He shrugged, then stretched his arms behind his head. "I don't know about you, but I'm fine with just chilling out and letting the Pokemon have fun."

"Hey, pardon my intrusion," a curly-haired man said. It was the one who had been sitting at the table this whole time. "But I was just watching you two battle here. You're both fine energetic youths with friendly Pokemon, and I think the two of you have real star potential. Would you like to come to Pokestar Studios and have a try at making a movie?"

Pokestar Studios? That, that was the springboard of the careers of many modern stars. Much of what came out of it wasn't full-length movies, but rather movie shorts. They recycled the scripts every few years, that was well known, but each version was said to be unique, with different actors. But more importantly, Pokestar was where a lot of big stars, even superstars, even Christoph, were found by bigger studios. So if they were given a chance to be in a Pokestar movie... they might get the chance to become superstars.

"I don't know if we have time for that," Nate said.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHIEEEE, that's amazing!" Rosa shrieked happily, then she grabbed the man's hand. "You really think so? Can we, please?"

He laughed. "I'm sure of it. I'm a talent agent for the studio. And don't worry, it won't take up much of your time to come look around and try it out. Just get your Pokemon healed up and meet me on the other side of the gatehouse to the north. I've got to get my boss. See you in a bit." He slipped his hand out of Rosa's grasp, then headed out of the club.

"Yeah, we'll be there!" Rosa said, then turned to Nate and jumped in place. "We can be in a movie! Isn't that awesome? If we do really well and people love us, then we might be able to become real movie stars! I always thought it'd be the best to be a big screen actor, and just to have that come out of blue is almost unbelievable, but it happened! This'll be great!" Then she hugged him in excitement.

He froze for a moment, then pushed away. "Um, I suppose. Although it does seem awful sudden."

"Aw, why aren't you excited?" She knew that he tended to be serious, but he also had his fun moments. Besides, being a big star was a dream that everybody shared. Why would he even think about throwing away this once in a lifetime chance?

"It just seems like a distraction," he explained. "And you are right, this is unbelievable. Why would they ask for a couple of teens to be their actors on just watching a few battles? But if it won't take long to see, I don't see the harm in looking."

Maybe if he saw that it could be done, he'd go along with it. "Yeah, that's the ticket! Then let's go get our Pokemon healed up." She rushed out of the club, soon followed after by Nate.

Once that was done, they hurried on to the gatehouse in the northern part of Virbank, the one that was usually closed off by private guards. But those same guards seemed to recognize them and let them on through. Maybe the agent had taken some pictures, but it already felt like they were special. Past the regular gatehouse, there was a lavish setting that seemed like a dream, no, that was where dreams were made. A plush red carpet sat on the concrete walkway, leading up to a grand golden arch that served as the entrance. What lay beyond was just as grand.

On the path, the talent agent was talking with a man wearing a colorful suit with a matching top hat. "Oh, here they are," the agent said. "They did really well against Roxie, and with some work might even be stylish about it. It'd be interesting to see what they could do together. Rosa, Nate, this is the owner of Pokestar Studios, Mr. Stu Deeoh."

The man took a step closer to them, looking them over. "Yes, I see what you mean. You both could be quite popular, but you're regular teens that anyone could relate to. Would you like to star in one of our movies?"

"Oh yes!" Rosa said, clapping her hands together. "This is going to be fun!"

He laughed. "Excellent. We look to make the dreams of many people alive. Don't worry, your test run won't go long. I need to go talk to the director, so have a tour of the studios. Keen, take them around for a bit."

There were a number of people in the studio; some were in costume, some were in fancy suits, and others seemed to be other regular people. Maybe there were others like themselves who got to be actors, but Rosa didn't think on it long. There were too many things to be excited about. Like seeing various set pieces on display, a nice fountain, the large filming warehouse, and the extravagant screening theater.

"This is where we do the initial screening of all of our films," the agent said as they stood in front of the theater. "Our test audience, made up of our experts, staff, and volunteers from the public, decide on what version of the current script makes it out to the general public."

"What version?" Nate asked.

Nodding, the agent said, "We have a general script, but we leave the directors and the actors a lot of freedom to interpret it how they like. The test audience often knows the basic script from seeing all of the versions, so they like to see creativity and spirited actors. Although not so much that it wrecks the basic idea of the script."

"Do we get paid for this?" he asked.

"Does it matter?" Rosa asked him. "We get to be in a movie!"

He turned to her. "Well yes, but most actors are paid."

"If the particular film is chosen to go out of this theater, then you will be rewarded," the agent said. "Why don't we go inside? The owner hasn't called yet, and one of the test films is going to be screened shortly. It runs off the base script you'll be using, so maybe you'll get an idea of what you're going to do."

"Cool, I love the Pokestar films," Rosa said as they walked into the screening theater.

Inside, there was a small group of people gathered outside the entrance to one of the screen rooms. This included, interestingly enough, Roxie and the older man who was probably her father. They didn't really get time to say hi as the door to the particular theater opened and everyone went inside. In there, it was a really nice theater, with large comfortable seats.

"How long will this be?" Nate whispered after a minute.

"They're short films," Rosa said.

Then the lights darkened as the projector started up. A title screen came up, saying 'Test Screening- VIII- Brycen Man against Riolu Man: Carnival of Chaos'. From the second part of the title, Rosa knew it was one of the costumed hero series, which excited her. The last time it had gone out, she had been young girl and it had been one of her favorites. So was that the one they were going to play out? She had thought it couldn't get any more exciting, but then it did! She felt like fidgeting, but then she was supposed to be a young lady now. She tried to keep still.

It looked quite different, but hopefully it was just as good. There was a crowd in a carnival, colorfully lit up at night with several performers juggling bowling pins in the background. Then, the villain came out dressed in dark blue cloak and an icy mask over his eyes. He looked like the former Gym Leader Brycen, who had retired from the League a year ago. Maybe it even was him, as he had been an actor as well. He did a great job.

After a little while, the hero Riolu Man came out, along with his Riolu partner. It looked like man who was with Roxie. But, he was pretty bad and not even in a good way. It was a pity, watching one of her favorite shows wrecked like that. But she could get a chance to make it really great in a little while.

They were given a survey to rate the movie, but from the talk going on, it seemed like others were disappointed in this version as well. Rosa filled out the survey, then headed out with Nate. "I think I'm seeing how they operate," he said quietly.

"The agent explained it to us," Rosa said.

He shrugged. "Yeah. But more than that."

"Oh." Well if he understood it, that was good. "That was a disappointing version. The one like this I saw years ago was brilliant, I loved it. This one, he was such a coward."

In the lobby, they found Roxie talking with her father. From the sound of it, she was trying to cheer him up. That made Rosa wonder about how he felt. He had been in there, and all those people had been talking about the version he had been in. He must have been feeling bad about it... Rosa felt kind of bad herself for saying what she did a moment ago. But, it had only been Nate who heard, right?

She wasn't able to talk with them, though as the agent found them quickly. "We made good timing," the agent said. "Stu told me that they're ready for you in the filming area. Go on over there; good luck with your test run."

"Okay, thanks!" Rosa said, trying to put on a cheerful face. As she thought over things, she tried to focus on her excitement. She could talk with Roxie's father later. But for now...

It was really exciting!

Across the studio, they entered the recording building. The owner met with them in the lobby. "Ah, here you are," he said, smiling. "Here is where all of our magic takes place, and by magic I mean CFX! We use green-screen actors to catch all of the action, and then by building the world around them through virtual technology, we can make our films in a few days rather than many months."

"I thought so," Nate said. Rosa looked at him, but it was still hard to know what he was thinking.

The owner seemed briefly uneasy at that, but then gave her a warm smile. "Yes... anyhow, the current script only calls for two actors and three Pokemon. You can choose to use either your own, if they're fitting for the script, or rent one of the studio. But we have one of the studio actors who will work with one of you today. Which one of you wants to try out first?"

"Let her," Nate said quickly, before Rosa could even think about it.

"Thanks!" Rosa said, jumping up a little Then she thought she saw something move out of the corner of her eye, like someone taller than her was coming up. Was it something to worry about? A little part of herself felt like she should be cautious about people sneaking up on her, but her excitement ran that over quick.

Before she could look, the owner started talking again. "That's good of you, Nate. Okay Rosa, so let me introduce you to your co-star..."

"Hello," a man's voice said, from behind her.

"Eek!" Who was that? Tense with excitement, Rosa reacted without a thought, spinning around and slamming her fists into the man behind her. He got thrown aside and onto the ground a few feet away. But now that she got a good look at him, it was Brycen himself. She ran over to him. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! You just were suddenly behind me and I freaked out."

"I should apologize for sneaking up on you, rather," Brycen said, sitting up better. "You must have martial arts training."

"Uh, just a little bit," she said, blushing.

"You could have fooled us," Mr. Stu Deeoh said, coming over. "Are you okay Brycen?"

"Took the wind right out of me," he said, touching his torso then wincing.

"Maybe you should take the evening off," the agent said.

Rosa nodded. "Oh sure. Um, maybe we could try again later." But then the best idea came to her. This movie needed two actors. "Or, how about Nate takes his place?"

"Well..." the owner said, scratching his head.

"As long as it doesn't involve her punching me again, I'm fine," Nate said.

That annoyed Rosa, but in the end, that worked for the owner and the director. They were both escorted to the filming area, where they were given the basic script for the Trainer hero short film. Taking up much of the room was a large area with bright green floor and walls. Various cameras and other equipment (most of which she couldn't name) were in the extra space.

"The standard script calls for a Riolu, a Pawniard, and a Vullaby," Nate said, looking over the script.

"I have River," Rosa said, happy for that. "But I think the other two live elsewhere in the region."

He pointed at something on the script's third page. "Does she have something super-effective against a Flying type?"

"Oh, no," she said, flipping the pages of her own script. "Drat, I was hoping she could be a movie star too. I guess we'll have to use the rental Pokemon they have. But didn't the guy said he liked our Pokemon too?"

He shrugged. "Can't help what's in the script... Excuse me, director, but why are some of the lines blank?"

The director, a man with a red suit and a visor that said 'Director' on it, stopped by them. "Oh, you must be some of the new actors. Yes, some of the lines are blank, but that's because you can choose what you want to say or do there. I might adjust things as well, depending on what you do. We want everyone to be creative."

"Creative, huh?" Nate said, sounding like he wasn't impressed.

"That sounds fun!" Rosa said. "Are we starting right away? I don't know if I can memorize all this that fast."

The director nodded. "We can get started as soon as we have the Pokemon out. And don't worry about memorizing the script. There's a lot of editing to do, so take as long as you need to in checking the script and redoing lines."

"We'll use the studio Pokemon," Rosa told them. So they had all the time they needed to get it right? That was good.

"I'll go get them, then," the director said, going towards a window in one of the non-green walls.

Since they had a moment, Rosa turned to Nate. "What's up with you? You're acting like this is no big deal, but we're going to be in a movie! Most people can only dream about getting this chance."

He shrugged. "Sorry, but... I'm just trying to think about this realistically. At first, I thought it must be inefficient to film the way they describe but then... recycling scripts with parts made up on the spot, getting actors off the street, CGI, multiple versions of which only one may be released to other theaters, shorts that depend on flat stock characters... I wonder how many other corners they cut in order to produce a large amount of material in order to find that one golden version that makes all the money? It must be like shifting through a collection of fanfics online to find that one good one."

"Now you're just being sour," she teased him, mockingly punching him (lightly). "Let's just have fun with this."

He put his hand up defensively, smiling. "Okay, okay. Sorry. Hey, you said that this was one of your favorites, right? Why don't you choose which role you want?"

Pleased by that, Rosa said, "You're letting me choose? Yes! Oh, sorry, I don't want to offend you, but I want to play the hero. You okay with the villain?"

"Sure," Nate said.

After a while of questions and setting up, the two of them were told to go into the green screen area. They were allowed to keep their regular outfits, even though the film would have them in costume. That was part of the script instructions, how to account for the costumes. The only exception was that the direction had asked them to leave their visors to the side, saying that it would be easier than editing that out. "Start filming," the director said. "And, action!"

Rosa was ready to go, but Nate had most of the lines as the villain (probably because they were expecting the villain to be played by one of the studio actors like Brycen). So he started off with releasing the Pawniard, going the extra mile by sweeping his hand out as he did so, as if he was flinging aside a large cape. "Such a sight, this sparkling carnival. You people are all moving through like you're in a dream. Feh, but none of you deserve it! I will turn your dream into a nightmare! Come, my Pawniard, bring chaos and destruction to this night."

"Kkkkzzzsa?" The Pawniard hesitated for a moment, as if uncertain of why Brycen wasn't there.

"Don't worry about it," Nate said in his usual less dramatic voice. "You should do something that looks vicious and intimidating for the audience."

Rosa grinned. "Oh yeah! Come on Pawniard, you can do it. Just whirl around and swing your blades, like this!" She then spun around once, slashing her hands through the air like they were bladed.

"Kuzza," the Pawniard said, his eyes seeming to glint. Then he imitated what she did, only ending up on a different pose where he crossed his arms in front of himself, then slashed down and spread his arms out wide behind it.

The director laughed. "Nice one. You two do well with Pokemon."

"They should be having fun too," Rosa said. "Didn't you have more lines?"

"Yeah," Nate said, kneeling while checking his script again. Then he dropped it and stood back up. After a moment, he gave a boastful evil-villain laugh. "Come on, cower before me! You ignorant masses have no idea of what's really going on around you. I will show you the meaning of fear and despair."

Watching him get into it, Rosa shivered. He was scary when playing a villain and the Pawniard really was having fun being his minion Pokemon. But, she was to be the heroine, so she had to match him. "Hold it right there," she shouted as she released the rental Riolu.

"Riii..." the Riolu started to call out when he saw the look on the Pawniard's face. "Yipe!" He stumbled back and crashed into Rosa's leg.

"Zzzizzca," the Pawniard said, calming down a little.

Rosa dropped down and hugged the Riolu. "Oh, you're okay. But we need to really act, buddy! Come out and face him like a real hero."

He looked back at her, puzzled. "Rii?" Then he seemed to see something and wagged his tail. He patted her hand, then got back onto his feet and was eager to go.

"Let's try that again," the director said.

"Okay," Rosa said, getting up. "Now remember, when you come out next, you gotta show that you aren't letting anyone intimidate you."

The Riolu barked happily, then was recalled. When Rosa redid her line and called him back out, he called out, "Ri lu!" Then he made fists and held them out like he was ready for battle.

"Good one," Rosa said quietly.

"Hmph, and who would you be?" Nate asked in his villain persona, showing disdain. "You hardly look impressive."

To go along with the act, Rosa frowned, but then put on a serious face and brought her fist to her chest. "I am the hero of ideals, sent to defend the truth. I am here to stop you from your destructive schemes."

He gave her a smirk. "Are you now? What use is the ideal, or the truth? It is nothing but a dream! For your insolence, I, Brycen-Man, will destroy you."

Unfortunately, the director interrupted the flow. "Should we leave it as that? Since Brycen's not the one in the villain role for this version."

"Oh wait, I have an idea!" Rosa said, jumping up. Then she pointed at Nate and got back into her role. "What are you talking about? You can't really be... are you Brycen?"

Nate brightened at that. "Oh yeah, a fake. Well then..." He paused, then asked, "Why would you suspect a deception? I am who I am. Pawniard, attack that Riolu!"

"Kzzzz," the Pawniard hissed, then sprang across the gap to slash its blades at the Riolu's face. Instead of connecting, the Riolu hopped aside and dodged.

"I could see that working," the director said, pacing and thinking.

As the cameras were still rolling, the act continued. "Riolu, use Force Palm on it!" Rosa called. According to the script, the Riolu had to use super effective moves against the two Pokemon belonging to Brycen-Man.

Force Palm knocked the Pawniard out. Briefly, Rosa wondered how these studio Pokemon liked their life. They win or lost according to a script, not to how skilled their partners were. Although, like with the version they had watched earlier, if the actor didn't know what they were doing with Pokemon battling, the Pokemon could lose when they were supposed to win. Hopefully they liked it.

Nate sneered, then switched out Pokeballs. "What use is trying? I'm going to end up humiliating you. Your dreams are futile, Riolu-Girl. Prepare to face the end of your brief career."

"Bring it on!" Rosa said, striking a confident pose.

He then brought out the Vullaby, who managed to get their mood despite having not been around to witness it. She spread her wings (admittingly slim wings) wide and puffed herself up to look bigger. "Raaaaa!"

Maybe Pokemon could really hear through the Pokeball. According to the script, she and Riolu had to move first. "Ice Punch, no hesitation," she ordered.

Barking in agreement, the Riolu dashed forward and turned his Ice Punch move into an uppercut, knocking the Vullaby backwards into the air. A pale blue glow followed both of them, hard to see against the bright green backdrop. Hopefully that made it into the recording.

"Your attempt at chaos and terror is over before it began," Rosa said, pointing at Nate again. "Now surrender yourself to the police and justice."

"Don't think you've gotten the best of me," Nate said, clenching his fist. "You may have won this time, but this isn't the end."

"Cut there," the director said, coming over to them. "That was quite good for novice actors, both of you. I'd be happy to work with either of you again. Make sure to talk to the receptionist at the door so that we have a number for both of you, so we can call you when your version is ready for the first screening test."

"All right!" Rosa said, jumping up and pumping her fist in the air. "We'll definitely be back to see it!"


	13. Moonlit Bay

May 27

Virbank

It was dark when they got out of the studio, but they decided to check the docks to see if the ferry ran late. Virbank was lively, even more so than it was during the day. For Nate, seeing all the other people here, mostly young adults but a good portion of middle aged people too, it provoked an odd dissonance of thoughts. Part of him wondered if the oddly dressed (to his mind; they might be edgy or punk) people hanging out in the streets were indulging in an unhealthy lifestyle or if they had a balance between business and fun. But another part of his mind was tempted to dismiss the analytical side and just have fun with the rest of them.

"Hey Rosa," he said. "Do you think I'm too serious?"

"Mmm," she grabbed one of her ponytails, checked it, then flipped it back, "you're not the most serious person I've met, but when you do get serious, you get really serious. I mean, you worry about that." She laughed. "If it does worry you, then we can just go do something you think is fun for a day. I got to be in a movie," she smiled, still high spirited from that, "so I'd be happy with most anything you suggest."

He smiled. "Thanks. Although I'm not sure what. I was just wondering about the clubs these people go to, but I'm not sure."

"Oh yeah," she said, but not sounding terribly interested. "I suppose they like it. But I don't think I'd like it myself. I mean, lots of people in one room, with loud music playing, and people all trying to talk to each other at once. That kind of noise would make me tense, not relaxed enough to have fun."

"You don't like loud music?" It seemed odd.

Rosa shrugged. "Well I don't so much mind the music as having so many things to listen to at once. I liked the music Roxie and her band were playing, although given how loud it was through the door, I'm glad they had stopped before we went in. I like music, but my favorite kind of music is just being out in the woods listening to the Pokemon calling." She giggled. "Kinda silly, huh?"

"I don't think so," Nate said. He was going to agree that that sounded like a nice thing to do when something happening nearby got his attention.

As they came to the corner to turn to the ferry dock, there was a crowd there. There were five people wearing the black and gray grab that the others of Plasma had been wearing. For all he knew, it might even be some of the same, with their head gear making it hard to identify any one of them. Standing opposite of them were Roxie and Hugh. "I've heard that you lot have been making trouble and bullying other Trainers around here lately," Roxie said, her white hair looking particularly stark under the streetlight. "I'm gonna warn you this once to stop this nonsense, or I will get involved personally."

"You have no idea what you're up against," one of them said. "If you start getting in our way, you're going to be in major trouble later on."

"Your big talk isn't about to scare me," Hugh said, sounding harsher than Roxie.

The leader of the group pulled out a Pokeball. "Maybe it will when we defeat both of you and take your Pokemon away."

Nate didn't have to say anything to Rosa. Of the same thoughts, they hurried over. "You'd have to get rid of us too," Nate said.

Glancing over, Roxie began to smile. "Feeling confident, are you?" She then released a Pokemon Nate recognized right off the bat, a Weezing (it seemed a lot larger than he had imagined them being). It seemed like little more than a huge cloud of violet smoke, much like the Koffing but with an extra few heads budding off it. Picking up on its Trainer's mood, the Weezing made a sound that was half-cough and half-laugh, releasing some of its toxic gases.

One of the Plasma thieves took a step back. "What? I didn't see you... I haven't seen you use that Pokemon before."

"That's because I've had mostly low-level challengers this month," she replied. "Not only that, but Hathor here is too high of a level to use in any of the standard Gym teams. He's just been a buddy of mine for much too long for me to let him go just yet." Roxie then beckoned them to start the fight. "You asked for a battle and you'd better not chicken out now."

While it would have been interesting to see Roxie cream the whole lot with just Hathor, the Plasma group silently decided that they'd rather split up and try to fight all four of them. Even then, the one that approached Nate was an easy opponent, especially since Ruby was a Pignite. They all won. However, before anyone could say anything, the one who hadn't fought released a smoke bomb. Nate backed up, trying to get where the wind wasn't blowing the smoke. There were some loud sounds, in particular an engine starting up and heading out across the bay. When it cleared, the five thieves were gone.

Rosa was coughing. "Ugh, that stinks," she said, covering her face.

"Yeah, they got away," Hugh said, sounding mad.

"You okay?" Nate asked Rosa. She nodded, waiting until she was sure it was okay to take a good breath.

Perhaps due to working with Poison Pokemon, Roxie wasn't perturbed by the smoke. She took a few steps forward, looking through the remaining smoke at the water. "Sounds like they took a motorboat, maybe heading towards Castelia. We might be able to get the Coast Guard to intercept them." She turned to them and smiled. "Hey, thanks for helping out. I don't know if they were being serious about taking our Pokemon, but after what happened a while back, can't be too careful."

"I don't think you really needed our help, not with that guy," Nate said.

Hathor the Weezing seemed pleased by that, grinning wide and making that hacking laugh sound. Roxie nodded. "I know, but when it comes down to it, it's people like you who help anyways that make the difference. Is there anything I can do to help you out?"

Nate shrugged. "Maybe? We were just going in to check if there was a late ferry over to Castelia since we're done here in Virbank."

Putting her hand to her lips, she gave it some thought. "Not this late, not usually. But I think I can arrange for one. Follow me." She headed into one of the nearby buildings; Nate and Rosa followed.

"To Castelia?" Hugh mumbled, then came along with them.

Inside the building, there was a counter where one of the ferry captains was drinking from a brown mug. "Hey pops," Roxie called over, waving. "Could you take one more trip over to Castelia tonight for these folks? They helped me out just now. I need to call the Guard, though, since there was a group of thieving punks that took off."

Her father raised his eyebrows. "Really? Well I have no trouble going over once more."

"Thanks," she said, but soon was making the call on her Xtransceiver to get the Coast Guard.

He chuckled and turned to them. "It's not often she asks for a favor like that, so you must have impressed her. Besides, it'll be a beautiful night to cross the bay. So the three of you are headed to Castelia?"

"That's right," Hugh said. "When can we head over?"

"Give me a few minutes to finish a couple of things in here," the captain said. "Head out that door in back to the dock where I keep my ferry. It's the white and blue one, with the Wingull sign."

Out on the dock with his two friends, Nate looked around the water surrounding them. However, there weren't any signs of the fleeing Plasma group. "They must have followed the shoreline instead of going straight across," he said. "I wonder what they were doing here."

"They were probably up to no good," Hugh said in disapproval.

Then the sound of a beeping Xtransciever caught their attention. Nate knew it wasn't his own, as he was wearing his and it wasn't vibrating. "Uh, is that one of your guys'?" Rosa asked.

"No," Nate said, looking around. After a few beeps, Bard picked up the Xtransceiver sitting beside a crate. He tried to nibble it, then passed it over to Rosa when he decided it wasn't edible.

"Don't eat them," she said, taking it and pressing the answer button. "Hello?

"Ah, hello?" a guy's voice said, his voice not too clear. Which was odd, since the black and silver phone seemed new other than a few scratches from when it must have been dropped. "Where is this?"

"The ferry docks in Virbank," Rosa replied. "Did you lose this Xtransicever?"

"Yeah, that's right. The ferry docks? I didn't think... oh wait, yeah, I can see how that happened. Crud, I was hoping it would be here in Castelia."

"I'm heading over to Castelia in a little bit, actually," Rosa said, looking over at the ferry waiting on the captain. "Want me to bring this over to you?"

"That'd be grea.. oh, wait," his voice turned nervous for some reason. "I'm not sure if we could meet up. I'm out with friends and it could be a while, and even then..." a muffled voice came from the other end. "It's nothing," he said, apparently talking to someone else. "Don't worry about it. Sorry, but I'll get back to you. Please hang onto this for now so I can reach you." The call was then disconnected.

"Aaiii fri," Medusa said, floating over and trying to touch the black and silver Xtransciever in Rosa's hand.

"Wow, he must be really busy," Rosa said. "He didn't even tell me his name."

"What'd he look like?" Hugh asked, looking at the unit suspiciously.

"He sounded drunk," Nate added. Maybe he should go with Rosa when she went to find him.

She shrugged. "I don't know; there was no video feed."

"You'd be better off turning it in to the Xtransciever company so they can get it back to him, instead of trying to find some stranger in the city," Hugh said.

"Well he asked me to hang on to it," she said, before putting it in her bag. "It shouldn't be much trouble to meet up with the guy in Castelia tomorrow."

At that point, two people came walking down the dock to them. One was the ferry captain; the other was a woman with glasses and a bag made of blue denim at her side. The captain nodded to them. "Sorry to take a little while, but we've picked up another passenger as well. Come on board and we'll leave in a few minutes."

"Excuse me," the woman said in a quiet voice as she followed the captain onto the ferry. Oddly enough, she seemed familiar to Nate but he couldn't think of when he'd seen her before. But he wasn't from this world, right? Either she looked like someone he knew, or what little he had of his memory wasn't right. It made him feel uneasy, but then she hadn't reacted to him in any particular way.

Ten minutes later, they were crossing over the moonlit water. It was a beautiful night, like the captain had said. The sky was clear, although only the stars on the western half and the horizon could be seen. Across the bay, there waited a big brilliantly lit city with buildings soaring into the sky. In between, it was all dark calm waters, stretching out to the southern horizon. The full moon illuminated the surface, making the shifting textures of the waves visible. Despite this, Nate didn't see any other boats on the water. Not even the one the Plasma group had escaped on.

Hugh seemed mad still, standing near the front of the ship looking off at Castelia. But Nate decided to try talking to him anyhow. It made him less nervous than trying to speak to that woman. "Those guys were cowards, weren't they?" Nate asked.

Hugh glanced at him, then nodded. "Trying to scare everyone into obeying them, but once you stand up to them, they're not so tough. Hmph." He hit the railing with his fist. "Maybe most of them are only full of hot air, but there are a few that are monstrously talented. Don't think this is going to be easy the whole way."

"It hasn't all been easy," he said, thinking of how long it had taken him to defeat Roxie. "What have you been doing? I thought you were going to head out with us from Aspertia."

"I was going to head out with Rosa," he said. "Not that I'm jealous of you guys; don't take things the wrong way. At first, I was going to travel with my sister Violet, but she didn't seem as interested. On the other hand, Rosa was all fired up to go on a journey. And she's clever and brave. Don't be fooled by her surface act, as she was one of the top students in school. She would've been a big help, but she's also naive and too excitable. I was going to look after her. But then you came along."

Hearing that worried Nate. "What are you planning? It sounds like it could be trouble."

"It'll be trouble for them," Hugh said bitterly. He leaned on the railing, looking to Castelia still. "You are new, so you wouldn't have heard. It was almost five years ago now when I first heard of Team Plasma. A lot of people only think they emerged about three years ago, but they've been around longer than that. What happened was... I was with my original starter Pokemon, a Lillipup, and we were with Violet. She had gotten a Pokemon too, a Purrloin; our grandfather had just caught them both for us. We were out playing on Route 19 when we were approached by a strange woman in black.

"Since we were both new Trainers, we thought there wouldn't be any problem if we fought her. I mean, there hadn't been any trouble back then. But that woman, her Pokemon fought viciously. My Lillipup was hit really hard and I knew even back then that it was a serious wound. She defeated us and if it had been any normal fight, it would have ended there. Heck, most Trainers would offer to help if their opponent's Pokemon got hurt that badly. But instead, she threatened to turn her Pokemon on us if we didn't turn over our Pokemon to her. Both she and her Pokemon were merciless."

"That's horrible," Nate said. "Most of the Pokemon battles I see seem to be more like games to the Pokemon I did have a hard time the first time I saw Ruby got hurt, but if it was that badly, I don't know how I'd feel."

Hugh bowed his head. "Most Pokemon are good, but this one, it seemed evil. There wasn't anything we could do about it either. I've never felt so helpless as I was at that moment. And then, our grandfather managed to find the Lillipup a few days later... he had died. We could never find my sister's Purrloin, even when the police sent out a list of Pokemon recovered from Team Plasma when they were broken up. I'm looking for her, but if she's still in possession of that woman, me and Vino are going to have to get a lot stronger, and build a great team."

"How will you know that particular Purrloin when you find it?" Nate asked.

"Meow," a Pokemon spoke up. Nate looked down, a bit startled by the meow when they were talking about a feline Pokemon. But, this one couldn't be Violet's old Pokemon. For one thing, it was a Skitty, with pink fur and a fluffy tail. It was wearing a yellow-orange scarf fitted to the right size for the small Pokemon, with a patch featuring peaches at the ends. The Skitty seemed to smile smugly at them.

"Are you trying to tease me?" Hugh asked, briefly irritated. He rubbed his neck. "We gave the two of them collars which should have stayed with them no matter what. Possibly like this kitten's scarf. Even if that's off, there's the DNA registry for all Pokeballs, and the Purrloin should recognize me."

They would have continued talking, but Rosa ran up to them, pursued by Bard and Medusa. "Hey, isn't this great? It's like we're flying across the water!"

"We are going pretty fast," Hugh said, smiling and acting like they hadn't just been talking about what was probably his worst memory.

Going over to Nate's other side, Rosa leaned over the railing and looked ahead. "Zoooom! Sometimes I dream about running over the water and I think it would be awesome to do that. Don't you think the bay is great?" Although her question could have been directed at either of them, she looked specifically at Nate.

"It is," he said, smiling. Medusa came up to investigate the new Pokemon, causing the Skitty to bat at her tentacles. "It would be nice to travel around on a smaller boat though, to be closer to the water. Or maybe dive. Is this a good area to dive in?"

"I think so," Hugh said. "Mostly when you hear of divers, they're off in Undella Bay or near Hamilau. You have to be careful here because of all the shipping barges that come through."

"Yeah, that could cause trouble," Nate agreed.

"Sometimes I think it would be cool to live here by the bay," Rosa said. "Or at least along this river."

Nate shrugged. "Maybe. But I think I'd rather live by a lake in the woods. That way I wouldn't have to deal with all the city crowds everyday and could enjoy nature more."

Rosa laughed. "Me too!"

A crooning call from behind them interrupted their conversation. It was another Pokemon, this time a blue turtle with a brown shell and a long curled tail, around which there was a yellow ribbon. At this, the Skitty flicked its tail before strolling over in an unconcerned manner. They were heading off to the side of the boat opposite of where Rosa had been.

"Wow!" Rosa said, her eyes seeming to sparkle. "It's a Squirtle! I thought they were rare."

"They must be, because I wouldn't have known what to call it," Hugh said.

"I should ask her Trainer about her!" She then followed after the two Pokemon.

"At least she's having a great day," Nate said. But, the only others on the boat were the captain and that familiar-seeming woman. Maybe...

Hugh turned around to watch her. "She lost Pokemon to Team Plasma too."

"Her too?" Nate asked, looking to him and briefly forgetting his uneasiness.

He nodded. "They were living in Nimbasa at the time, but were convinced by some of the early Plasma speakers to release their Pokemon. There were a lot of people like them who fell under the pressure. Then they ended up moving out to Aspertia before Plasma fully came out in public over there. If their Pokemon were disappointed by that, they couldn't know because they left the area."

"Maybe one of them will recognize her," Nate said, partly wondering aloud.

"I hope so." Then he looked at Nate. "Make sure to take good care of your Pokemon, and don't lose them. Also, take care of Rosa too."

Nate thought about it a moment, then nodded. "I think she can handle herself. But, I'll keep an eye on her."

"Thanks. That's one less thing to worry about." Then they heard Rosa yelp. "What now?" Hugh asked, going over to investigate.

They found Rosa over by the other passenger on the ferry, a little pale and shaking. Bard, Medusa, and even River were trying to calm her down while the woman held a leafy lizard Pokemon close to reassure it. "I'm sorry about that," she said. "Trey is actually quite friendly and he was probably trying to impress you."

"S-sorry," Rosa said, putting her hands to her chest. "I, um, I came to ask about your Squirtle and I wasn't expecting to get jumped on by a, a lizard."

"Ththh," the Treecko replied, crawling onto the woman's shoulder opposite Rosa to watch the girl cautiously.

"Just a scare?" Nate asked, putting his hand on Rosa's shoulder.

She tensed briefly, but relaxed and smiled on seeing him. "Oh, ah, I'll be okay." She sat down on the bench near the woman. The Squirtle came over to Rosa and reached a paw up to her.

"I wouldn't mind talking about her, although these are just some friends visiting me," the woman said. "That's Stacy, the leader of this little group. She's really sweet, but she's also quite strong, more than most people expect. Oh, and the Skitty there is Kip. Watch out for him, since he can be the most trouble."

Kip purred loudly, puffing his chest up in pride.

"How can any Pokemon that small be trouble?" Hugh asked.

She laughed a little. "Being small increases his mischief, I think."

"Who are you?" Nate asked. "I have the weirdest feeling that I should know you."

"Well," she put her hand to her cheek. "Most people around here can't pronounce my name. Call me Ysabell, that will do. I'm a fortune teller and collector of stories, but I travel a lot and see many people. I'm sorry, I couldn't say..." she bit her lip.

"Maybe she just looks like someone you knew," Hugh suggested.

"Maybe."

"Wait, you're a fortune teller?" Rosa asked, thinking of something. "Like you can see the future or tell what's the truth?"

"Ah-haha, well," she smiled and looked to the Treecko. "I can, but it's a way of mysteries. Some answers may be clear, others won't be revealed until more is known. If you wish for some fortunes, or perhaps an attempt to answer a question you have, I could try." She opened her bag, getting an excited chitter from Trey. "Yes, I know you like the book especially much. It too much for even you to read, though."

Rosa smiled. "That'd be great! We have lots of questions."

"We don't mean to bother you, but that would be a help," Nate said.

Ysabell nodded. "That's fine, I'm more likely to cause you trouble than you are to cause it to me. So I hope this won't be a bother." She then pulled out a large hardback book, enough to cover her lap while closed. It had a brown and gold cover with no title and the pages... well they were filled with some kind of text that Nate found illegible. "What questions do you have?"

"Where's Hilda Medley?" Rosa asked, peering over and trying to understand the book too.

"Hilda..." she raised on hand above the book and half-closed her eyes. The pages then turned of their own accord, eventually falling onto one that had a picture of a stained glass window on it. The window, strangely enough, showed Zekrom and Reshiram. "She's in a church."

"What's she doing in a church?" Hugh asked.

"That's all I can tell now," Ysabell said. "Any other questions?"

"I'm looking for a particular Purrloin, one that used to belong to my sister," Hugh said.

She nodded. "Okay, I should be able to..." she focused on searching through her book, eventually landing on a picture of an ornate knife. "The Purrloin is still with her captor. Only, this person... I wouldn't be able to locate her, except by luck. I'm sorry."

"At least I know more of what to expect," Hugh said, his mood turning grim.

"Even if you find her, she's still going to be difficult to deal with. Be careful."

"Where's Kyurem?" Nate asked, thinking that might help.

The next page turned to had a frost pattern all over it. "It's hard to say. Behind a wall?" She frowned and tried brushing the page off. "The frost is making it difficult to read this page. I'm sorry."

Watching her work her fortune telling, Nate wondered how she did this. It was like magic, but even in this world, that seemed far-fetched. He decided on a question that was both helpful to get an answer and a test of her ability. "It's fine. How about Keldeo? Where is he?"

"All right," she said, turning the pages. This time, she ended up on a page that depicted a scene on a ferry. Not only that, but it was a scene of this moment, with all of them and all the Pokemon in the same places: Bard and Stacy sitting by Rosa, River standing on the bench behind her, Ruby and Argent by Nate, Medusa just behind them, Vino gripping Hugh's jeans, Trey on Ysabell's shoulder, and Kip sitting on the ground watching. Even the Treecko's eyes went wide at that picture. "Oh, he seems to be right here!" Then she laughed and turned a single page. "Hah, well we shouldn't be looking at that too long. Ever see a live TV broadcast where the recorder is also the viewer? Don't look to far into the abyss."

While that made Rosa and Hugh laugh, it made Nate feel nervous for reasons he couldn't explain. Ysabell seemed to be a real fortune teller. Or more? "I see... we've been told something like that before. One more from me, if it's okay..."

"You want to know about your ability, right?" Ysabell asked, taking a quick glance back at the page. "At least that's what this text says is your next question."

"That was it," he said. Hopefully it would be the last question he had to be around for.

"Whoa, that's kind of scary," Rosa said, delighted to be scared like that.

"What is it exactly?" she asked, looking up at him.

"I can't really answer that," Nate said. "I see things on rare occasion, sometimes like the memories of others, but sometimes not. Plus my own memory is scrambled, so I have no idea why."

Ysabell thought about it a moment, then offered her hand. "Here, it may be quicker to have the book examine you. Put your hand with mine, just outside of its reach."

Nodding, he did as asked. As the book began to turn, he felt something odd with the hand there. It was like static, not sending out sparks but emitting a low level of energy. When the book settled, it was near the end of the book, on a page with some kind of chart.

She studied it for a moment, putting her hand on the page. "It would... you have the power known as Memory Link. So you're right, you are seeing the memories of others. This power is most often temporary, given by a legendary Pokemon to help with a task they assign. Once your task is complete, the Memory Link will no longer be active. And then," she shifted her focus to the chart, "when you were given the power, you were also given some images of the near future to help guide you. These images will be triggered in the same way as the memories: when you're in the right place, with the right person, at the right time, or any combination of that. They're like a preview of the future, although not set in stone. There's a chance that you won't even be present for those events, but the people, places, and items involved, they will be important to you."

"Wow, that's pretty cool," Rosa said, looking at him. "If you could learn to control that, you could learn many things."

"I don't know if I can control it," he said, rubbing his head.

"That's right, it's not under conscious control," Ysabell said. "But at least you know what to call it..." her Xtransciever rang, causing her to be distracted. "Oh, it's Sally. Sorry, but I need to take this call and she's a little hard to talk with. I hope I helped you a little bit." She then turned her attention to the call.

Because of that, the three of them headed back to the front of the ferry. "Was that sort of helpful?" Hugh asked, his eyes focused in thought as he walked. "She could have at least told you guys which church Hilda was at."

Rosa shrugged. "Maybe her book doesn't even know more than that. But hey, at least the Purrloin is still alive. There's hope you can get her back! Hey, what do you guys want to do when we get into Castelia?"

"Find a hotel and get some sleep," Nate replied. "It's been a long day."

She laughed. "I suppose it has been. But it's been just wonderful! Hey Hugh, did you hear? We got to make a movie!"

"You what?" Hugh asked, confused. So for the rest of the trip, Rosa told him all about what had happened after they had both beat the gym.

It had been a long day... but a good one.


	14. The Hilarious and Hospitable Hidden Harlequin Hunt

May 28

Castelia City

Although Rosa left the lost Xtransciever out on a sidetable, she didn't get a call back until the next morning, when she was brushing her hair. "Hello, you got me again," she said cheerfully as she brought it closer to the chair she had been sitting in.

"That's good," the guy said, sounding like he wasn't a morning person. "Listen, sorry about how we got cut off last time. It's been a rough week."

"That's okay," Rosa said. "Days like that happen. Anyhow, I'm Rosa."

"That's a pretty name. Um, I'm Curtis." He grumbled for a moment. "Ugh, sorry, really not the best of mornings for me. I've got a few minutes to talk. What'll you be doing in Castelia City?"

"Today, I dunno," she said, back to brushing her hair. Bard was already searching around her room for something to play with. "I'm traveling around with my friend Nate; we're both Pokemon Trainers challenging the Pokemon League. We'll either be training or exploring the city today, since we just arrived."

"Really? I always thought that sounded like an interesting thing to do, traveling around at your own pace and working with your Pokemon to accomplish a worthy goal."

She laughed. "I wasn't thinking quite that lofty when I started out! I just wanted to have fun, you know, like Hilda did. I was hoping to get to meet her too, since she's my hero, but apparently nobody seen her in a long time."

"Huh, I hadn't heard about that. Then again, I haven't heard about her on TV or anything lately. I didn't think anything of it because, you know, fame tends to be fleeting."

"More than just not hearing about her. Even her friends don't know where she is. It's a mystery, and maybe we can solve it. You should travel for the League too if that's what you want. It's tough, but great at the same time."

"I couldn't do that, not now," Curtis said, sounding disappointed. "I'm busy with work almost every day, so I don't have time for that. I even have to follow the schedule for when I spend time with my Pokemon and train them."

Rosa raised her eyebrows. "Really? Wow, that's rough. What kind of job do you have?"

"Ah, hah hah, I can't really say." Even his laughs seem nervous now.

That didn't seem right, so she decided to try cheering him up. "Whoa, are you like a government secret agent with mysterious super powers? That is sooo cool!"

This time, he broke into genuine laughter. "N-no, not that. I wish, though. That would be amazing."

"But that's exactly what a secret agent would say to throw off suspicion! Don't worry; I won't let anyone in on your little secret."

"Oh dear, what have I gotten into now?" Curtis said in amusement. "More seriously, are you going to be in Castelia City all day?"

"I should be," she said.

"Good, then I'll call you back if we can arrange to meet up. I've already told everyone to call back to the old phone I'm using now, so I should be the only one calling the one you have. I don't know if we can get together today, but keep hanging onto that phone for now."

"Are you sure?" she asked. "I might be able to get it to you quicker through the company."

"Let's just try to meet up in person for now. Anyhow, I've got to go. Talk to you later, Rosa."

"Yeah, later Curtis," she said, turning off the Xtransciever when the call disconnected. What was bothering him? Hopefully she'd brightened his morning a little bit with the jokes. She continued working on her hair, her thoughts turning to Nate and if he was up yet.

* * *

Nate was woken up by the shadow of a train outside of his window disrupting the early sunlight. He sat up and opened his eyes, but the train had already gone by. Wondering at how little noise it had made, he got out of bed and looked around the hotel room. Argent was already up and investigating the TV, while Ruby was still asleep on the other bed. Rosa had taken another room. Due to being outside the elevated train tracks and to being so small, these rooms had been low priced. Not that he minded; the train wasn't that much of a problem.

He got dressed, roused his Pignite, and prepared for the day. Castelia was a big city, but Rosa assured him that there would be places to train Pokemon even in a place like this. Meeting up with her in the lobby, they headed out to a diner in the same building for some breakfast.

"Last night, I was looking on the internet and found a debate about whether or not you should feed your Pokemon like this," Rosa said. "Because if you hook their Pokeballs up to a charger station, then you don't really have to feed them, just make sure they get some water daily."

"That doesn't seem healthy for a living creature," Nate said, looking at their Pokemon. They were all eating breakfast too; Ruby had the most, presumably because her natural fires needed a lot of energy.

Rosa nodded. "And they're happier with actual food, I think. Not only that, but we keep ours out and around a lot. Maybe they need more energy like that; I could ask my Mom about it. But I certainly wouldn't keep them cooped up in a Pokeball all day."

"I didn't even have them in their Pokeballs last night," Nate said.

"Me either! So, what do we want to do now that we're in Castelia?"

He shrugged. "Look around, as usual. Do you know of anywhere that might be associated with Hilda?"

Surprisingly, Rosa nodded. "Oh yeah, the central plaza. When she was here to beat Burgh's Gym, there was one day where she somehow got a hold of a cape just like the one Ghetsis always wore and she wore that near the fountain and mocked him in a parody of his big long-winded speeches. It was really amazing. So yeah, that place."

"Okay, then we'll have to go there," he said.

Without warning, a glittering jingling colorful ball bounced onto their table, precariously hitting between his plate and the bin of condiments and napkins. Bard was immediately distracted from his meal, looking at it with big shining eyes. However, Ruby managed to pluck it out of the air first. The Pignite teasingly held it over her head while the Dewott dropped under the table and gave her a begging look from there.

"Oh dear, I seem to have tossed the ball your way," a cheery voice said behind him. Then a harlequin dressed in bright orange, red, and silver was standing by him, with his hands on the table. The bells on the three tips of his hat jingled as he shifted his head. "Sorry, but at least I made your Pokemon's morning more fun!"

Rosa laughed and tried to snatch the ball from Ruby (but she was too nimble and got it away). "It sure did. Aw, come on Ruby, give the ball back."

The harlequin flicked his wrist and made another ball appear. "No problem; they can keep it. I've got plenty hanging around."

Nudging his Pokemon, Nate pointed down a space between tables where no one was sitting. Ruby nodded and tossed the harlequin's ball that way. Bard tore after it, knocking over several chairs and crashing into the wall as he caught it. Thankfully, he didn't break anything doing that and even the staff made a few chuckles as Bard proudly came back to their table with the prized ball in hand.

"Aw, you look so happy," Rosa said, patting Bard on the head. "Thanks for that."

"Hey, did I happen to hear that you two are new in town?" the harlequin said. "Castelia is a wonderful place. Do you have bikes to get around with? All of the vehicle traffic is underground or over-ground, so you're free to bike wherever you like on the ground."

"I have a bike," she said.

"You do?" Nate asked.

She shrugged. "Yeah, but I didn't want to use it because you don't. But I thought it might be handy."

The harlequin tossed the jingling ball up. "Well you're in luck! Today we're having an extra-special event for the Medal Meet: the Hilarious And Hospitable Hidden Harlequin Hunt! Bike around all day and find the five hidden harlequins all over the city, not including me here in the hotel, by nine o'clock and we'll let you keep the bike you use. Make it in good time and I'll throw in an extra prize package."

"The bike I use?" Nate asked. Were they really just going to give it to him?

"Yes!" the harlequin said, whirling his hands about and making a bike appear out of thin air (or probably from virtual storage with some flourish). It was candy apple red with a large wire basket on back, all of it sturdy looking but light. On part of the frame, there was a small device wrapped around the bar. "For a guy like you, a red one! You may borrow it for the day and if you win, I'll take the tracking device off and you may keep it." The harlequin winked. "You might even be able to use the device to help you. Maybe. Maybe not. You'll just have to explore around and see! Well, good luck and have fun! This is a great city to take a bike ride in. Castelia, Castelia, here we come!" The harlequin then whirled off (literally), singing his song and talking to another group about his hide and seek contest.

"Wow, that's lucky!" Rosa said, admiring the bike. "We were going to just explore, but now we have a mission!"

He shrugged. "Yeah, but we need to find five people in this big city. Well, I'll finish breakfast and then fiddle with that tracking device and see if I can find what he was hinting at."

Since the bike was in the way in the diner, he later took it into the lobby to look it over. When he was examining the tracking device, he got an alert from his Xtransceiver that it was trying to send an app to him. Letting that download revealed that it was a tracker for the harlequins, which would alert them to the location of one of them through a matching device they wore. That made the task of finding them look more manageable, so they headed out to ride around the city with their Pokemon following along if they wanted.

Rosa's bike was a light sparkling blue, with a white wicker basket decorated with silk flowers behind the seat and ribbons of various blues and silvers on the handles. Keeping their gear in the baskets (and one Pokemon, as River decided to ride in the basket of Rosa's bike), they were able to get around the streets quickly. The morning air was misty, yet the sun still shone bright. But they didn't get far from the hotel when they saw something interesting out on the docks.

It was a massive ship made of metal and wood, over three times the size of the ferry they had ridden. There were large walls around the body of the ship, making it hard to see the deck even from their position on the higher streets. Painted a motley arrangement of blue, black, and gray, there weren't any signs of what the ship was for. And yet the oddest thing about it was that it had three large masts with canvas sails hanging from them. Someone was up there, doing work on the sails.

"Wow, what's a frigate doing here?" Rosa asked, enchanted at the sight. "Nobody uses that style of ship these days, especially with sails."

"Maybe someone rich who really likes history?" Nate wondered aloud. "Or sailing? How do you know it's a frigate?"

She pointed over areas as she talked. "The shape of the hull is made to be especially maneuverable and fast, plus there's the way the masts and sails are formed. They're primarily warships with lots of cannons, and it looks like they've got most of the weapon ports sealed up. Probably good, since people probably wouldn't like it if it was fully armed. I went through a phase of really liking ships when I was a kid and I still remember most of it."

"I see." He checked his Xtranciever. "I'm getting a reading from the app that's nearby. Around..." he glanced away from the dock, then pointed out a building. "In that place."

"Let's go then." She took one last look at the ship, then followed him across the street to the building.

There was a bike rack they could leave their bikes at. While there were only a few others, Nate thought that some people might keep their bikes in digital storage, like how he kept most items that he didn't think he'd need right away to keep his traveling bag manageable. They weren't going to be here long, so they left the bikes outside while they went into a building with a sign that said 'Passerby Analytics- a research facility'.

There was a pleasant looking office setting inside, although there didn't seem to be many areas for a lot of workers. Maybe most of them worked upstairs. Instead, there were various tables in the middle, with booths where groups could talk privately in other areas. On the walls, electronic charts scrolled through various opinion polls. The harlequin there was dressed in an outfit much like the one they had met earlier. He was occupying himself with balancing various objects on top of a ruler.

When they got within a few feet of each other, both Nate's Xtransceiver and the harlequin's played a cheery chime. The harlequin tossed the items on the ruler up and caught them in his hands. "Hel-lo! I've been found already!" He whirled around, putting the items on a nearby table. Then he winked at them. "Good work in figuring out the device."

"It wasn't that hard," Nate said. "But yes, I'm here about your hide and seek thing."

"The Hilarious And Hospitable Hidden Harlequin Hunt!" he corrected. "We're here to make sure you see many wonderful things about Castelia! So, this place," he danced aside a couple of feet, then waved dramatically to the electronic charts. "This is Passerby Analytics, a place where they survey ideas! Marketing, politics, art, Pokemon, education, entertainment, harlequins, whatever it is, they have lots of questions to ask about it, and a lot of answers they've gathered. You might be able to earn a bit of money or a new product if you qualify for one of their big studies. But, they also offer a free app that lets you survey anyone who passes you by! Just pick a survey, activate your Xtransciever, and anyone who has the same app can find your survey and take it, letting you get a picture of what the people around you think."

"I've seen that app," Rosa said. "It was really popular in Nimbasa a few years back."

The harlequin nodded. "Yup! They're adding and changing the surveys all the time, so you might still find out new and exciting things." Then he danced back to them. "Since you've found me and listened to my tale, you have earned a Harlequin Medal!" He produced a green metal coin that fit in the palm of Nate's hand. "Find all five in good time and win a wonderful prize package! Good luck, and have fun biking in Castelia. Castelia, Castelia, here we come!" He then started singing and grabbed the things to balance on the ruler again.

On their way out, Nate commented, "Odd place to put as a potential tourist spot, if that's what this Harlequin Hunt is about."

"Their app comes and goes as a fad," Rosa said. "And they do have some fun surveys, although it would be more fun if they let you write your own surveys. Sometimes they do, but as a contest where they only put out a handful of user-written surveys. Maybe it might be good for some extra cash, if we can."

Nate shrugged. "We seem to be making a fairly good amount with just battling earnings from the League. Maybe if we needed to get something big."

"Where do we go for the next one?"

He checked his Xtransciever. "I'm getting one from further down this street, and another about the same distance in the other direction, I think."

"Hey, would you two like to take a survey?" a woman called out before they left the building entirely. She came over to them. "It won't take long. Fifteen minutes tops and I'll give you a little something for it."

He glanced at Rosa, who shrugged. "I guess we have time," he said.

The woman grinned. "Great! Come over to one of the tables and I'll get the forms to you in a bit. Just don't peek!"

Sitting across from each other, they shared a table to fill out the survey given to them. It seemed to be some kind of opinion or personality survey. In a long list of questions, Nate was asked how he ranked certain traits in others, like integrity, kindness, wit, and beauty. The next section asked about things he valued, like if he wanted to be popular or if he would rather study (that didn't need a second thought to pick the latter). Then, it asked him a series of questions about situations and had various responses as the choices. Such as if he was surprised with a party, would he be spooked, be excited, or be mad? By the end of it, Nate wasn't sure what value this kind of survey held for research. It seemed more like fluff. But, they did do surveys for entertainment, didn't they?

When he was done, he passed it back to the woman. She told him to wait for a little while for her to analyze the two surveys. They chatted for a little bit of what kind of surveys they would want to run. Rosa wanted to ask about making some books into movies while Nate wanted to know what kind of myths people liked. Then, the woman came back to them. "Thanks for taking the survey," she said, grinning. "As for the results, it says that you two share a lot of connections, but balance each other well in areas of difference. This means that you're a wonderfully compatible couple who could be together for many years."

"What?" Rosa asked. "We're not dating."

"You're not?" she asked. "But you came in with each other, and you look so cute together."

"It's good to know we'd work together as friends, at least according to your survey," Nate said. "But yeah, we're not dating."

"Oh, well..." she shrugged, but kept smiling as she handed them a small ball of red yarn. "Take this anyways. It's an accessory that you may find useful on your Pokemon. Have a good day, then."

Once they were really out of the building, Rosa looked up what she had. "It's a Destiny Knot," she said. "Looks like if another Pokemon uses a move that causes infatuation, then it will also be infatuated."

Nate rolled his eyes. "Of course."

She looked puzzled. "Of course? What does that mean? It's just a small ball of red yarn, although I suppose there must be something about it that makes it work."

"It's a symbol in..." he waved his hands a bit, then pulled his bike from the rack. There were lots of little droplets from the dispersing mist. "In several cultures, of the idea of the destiny of love. You know, the couple that falls in love at first sight and is destined to be together for all of their lives. It's said that they're connected by a red thread tied around their fingers, binding them together. Not literally, but a symbol."

"Oh, that's why she wanted to give it to us." She sighed as they rode off to the next street. "Why do people keep thinking we're a couple?"

"People like the idea of love," Nate said. "Don't you like talking about people who get together and eventually get married?"

"I guess," she said, blushing a bit.

Going down the next street, they spotted the local Gym, with a bright red and white Pokeball sign above the door. Like with the other two, it fit in nicely in the city. The signal didn't send them in there, though. It sent them into the building opposite the Gym, which had a tall neon sign listing many businesses located inside.

The harlequin was just inside, juggling many of the jingly balls. But going in there, Nate felt a sense of familiarity without it actually being familiar. Was this another place? He reached into his bag and got his storage device to pull out his migraine medication. Maybe if he caught it coming on, it wouldn't be as bad.

The Xtranscievers chimed, oddly startling. The harlequin came over without stopping her juggling act. "Hey-o, you're on the hunt? Well you've found me! Welcome." She bowed, then started pulling a few balls out of rotation.

"Hi,"Rosa said. "What're you here for?"

"The Medal Office!" she said in a sing-song voice. "You can go up to the fourth floor if you want to visit. We're a wonderful organization that puts together many fun contests and prizes, much like the Hilarious And Hospitable Hidden Harlequin Hunt you're on now. Some of it we do for awareness of good causes and organizations, and some we just do for fun. And here is your fabulous medal for finding me!" She brought out an orange medal while juggling, then tossed it to Rosa.

"Thanks, but he's the one with the bike of yours," she said, starting to hand it to him. Then she saw what he was doing. "You okay?"

"Maybe," he said. "Is there a water fountain around? Or somewhere to get a drink?"

"We run vending machines too," the harlequin said. "I think... ta-da-da!" She shifted her juggling to one hand, then pulled out a bottle of soda out of thin air. "I can go up to get more, so take this if you're not feeling well. Our vending machines are everywhere, selling drinks and snacks that both humans and Pokemon love. So if you like it, just look for the Fun-Times Vending Machines!" She then handed the soda to him.

"Thanks," he said, opening it up to drink while taking the medicine. Then he sat down on one of the lobby couches.

Rosa sat next to him. "Did you see something?"

"I might," he said, trying to relax. "I just felt something like I had before." He took another drink, then closed his eyes.

Then it came to him.

…

In the now quiet lobby, Hilda was sitting with a man who had a full head of dark gray hair. One of his ears had a scarred nick in it. "What are you going to do now?" she asked. "The police are looking for you."

"I know," the man said. "I mean to go talk with them. I don't know what they want with me, but," he shook his head. "I'll accept responsibility for what happened. We all need to do that, although I'm not sure how many of the others will."

She put her hand on his. "If they put you in prison, then I'll come visit you every day, Dad."

Smiling, he squeezed her hand. "Thanks. I heard some things; were you sent to look for us? Some won't want to accept that we were being wrong, but now that things are out in the open, I'm sure others will. Like..." then he spoke a name that caused the vision to blur.

It was another scene of that same man, but looking a lot better with black hair. He was speaking, but what it was about wasn't clear. Like a dream, or a half-forgotten memory.

…

Like one of his own memories?

Nate found that he wasn't holding his soda. Instead, Rosa had it. "Nate?" She sounded worried.

"I'm okay," he said. "May I have that back?"

"Sure," she said, giving it to him. "You went totally silent, and then you started shaking and nearly dropped that. Did something bad happen here?"

"I don't think it's bad," he said, then took a sip of the soda. "Hilda was talking with her father here. There was... something going on between them, something about him possibly ending up in prison. I didn't see why but then it changed into something else. I think I've known someone like her father; maybe he just looked like him. I started to remember something, but then I couldn't really grasp it."

"Maybe if you met him, he might jog your memory more?" Rosa suggested. "Although, I wouldn't know who her father is. Might be able to ask Bianca about that, if she'd tell us."

"It's a long shot, I think, but if we get a chance maybe," he said, then sat back in the couch.

"Are you gonna be okay?" she asked.

He nodded. "I think so, since I caught it in time. Give me a moment to rest and I think we can keep going."

While he rested, she checked on her email and did some other things online with her Xtransciever. Another person on the Harlequin Hunt came in, getting the same spiel about the Medal Office from the harlequin (although not about the vending machines; that had probably been a chance that she had sprang on to continue advertising for her employer). When he was ready to move on, the closest one was the one back on Port Street, past the Passerby Analytics building and the hotel. This signal was coming from the Unova Pokemon Battle Company.

The lobby of this place looked much like the one in the other building where the Medal Office was, except that on all of the walls, there were posters for various Pokemon battle groups. The Unova Pokemon League, the Battle Subway, even something calling itself a Triples Enthusiasts Club, there were many groups being advertised. Most prominent, there was an oversized poster for the battle company itself. 'Challenge us and help improve the wonderful products we make for you!' was what it claimed.

The harlequin here was with three small monkey Pokemon, playing games and doing tricks with them. When the chime came, the three monkeys hooted and began dancing about. The harlequin turned around. "Who's come looking for me? Is it you, pretty little miss?" He made an exaggerated bow, nearly touching his feet with his hat.

Giggling, Rosa shook her head. "No, it's him."

He straightened up and saluted Nate. "Oh, I see. You're a lucky fellow to have her."

"We're not dating," Nate said, smiling in amusement at how often this was happening today.

Grinning back, the harlequin put his finger to his rubber nose. "You might want to make your move soon, since a lovely lass like her isn't going to stay single for long. Now then, you have found me at the magnificent Battle Company!" He gestured to the poster, quickly mimicked by his monkeys, who had all gotten on the back of one of the couches. "They make many great things that can be used by and on Pokemon in many situations, helping them out and making things more fun. They also make handy things for Trainers, like handy apps and references. Did I say handy twice? Sorry, but you know, everyone has two hands! Being handy twice is great!"

Rosa laughed at that, but Nate just smiled. "It would be."

The harlequin bowed again. "Being that they make many good things, they are always looking to improve. And so, to this end, on several days of the week, Trainers are welcome to drop by and challenge available employees. Impress enough of the staff and you might even face the unusual CEO of the company, said to be one of the best Trainers in all of Castelia. Maybe later you can come drop in on them, but today, you are on the hunt! And so, here is your magnificent medal for finding me!" He then passed over a medal to Nate, identical to the other two, but red in color.

A battling company sounded interesting, like a place that could be used for training. While battling wild Pokemon helped their own become better, facing other human opponents, especially those that studied battling as their jobs, would help the two of them improve as well. But like the harlequin said, they were on a hunt today and with three found, it would be nice to get it done quickly and try for the special prize.

Following the signals, they came upon more skyscrapers as well as a row of cafes that were preparing to serve lunch. Some of the smells coming from them were delicious, reminding them of how much biking they'd done this morning. But they decided to go check out the next harlequin location before getting lunch.

As indicated by the statues outside, the building was an art museum. The harlequin here was busily making scribbles on a large drawing pad near the entrance. "Oh, hello there cutie," she said as both of their Xtranscievers chimed. "Welcome to Studio Castelia, a wonder of a building. Down here is a public display of local artists, from the wonderful Burgh to up and coming stars in the art world. It's free to look around, but if you want to pay a bit, you can go upstairs to see displays of many more works of art for a cultural experience... or date." She winked, but kept talking before they could interrupt. "Further up is an art school, if you feel creative yourself. I don't go, but I've got talent, don't you think?" She showed off the page which had a weirdly distorted face sticking its tongue out at them. It was so scribbly that it went beyond childish into straight up weird.

"Talent for something," Nate agreed.

The harlequin giggled. "Oh, you're such a flirt. Okay, here, this is your lovely medal for finding this place of lovely culture." She then produced a yellow medal and handed it over to Nate. "Be sure to take a moment to look around. You might find something of interest."

After putting the medal with the others in his bag, Nate decided to look around. Rosa was already looking at some of the paintings. She pointed him to one. "Look, it's Keldeo."

Interested, he looked at the picture. It was a Pokemon that seemed to be frolicking in a river underneath a waterfall. Keldeo seemed to be a cross between a tall long haired dog and a short pony, with white fur over much of its body, but a long wild mane of white, blue, and red hair over its forehead and down the back of its neck, which continued on down its tail. A pale blue crystal horn came out from the middle of its forehead; water droplets flew off of the horn as it played in the water.

"That's quite a painting," Nate said, looking into the Pokemon's eyes. He could almost see its personality just in the image, a Pokemon that was playful and impish but one that could turn out to have deadly skill if the need for its power was there. "It... fits Keldeo well."

"Do you know about him?" Rosa asked. She looked down, touching the sword necklace she seemed to be wearing daily now.

"I can think about him," Nate said, rubbing his forehead. It was throbbing again, but passed quickly. "It was in some books at the school. He is loyal, honorable, and noble like all of the swordsmen guardians of the land. But, where the others keep Pokemon safe from humans and rarely trust humans, Keldeo is not as reserved as the others. He will jump in if he witnesses a human abusing a Pokemon, but he will just as quickly jump to the defense of a human that is being abused."

"Yeah. I hope we do get to meet him."

Nate chuckled. "Of course; he's of your favorite type."

She laughed. "Not just that, but it is a plus! I have this of his; I keep thinking maybe..." she drew the tiny sword out of the case quickly, but then it turned out to be not as tiny as before. Rosa held up the longsword in front of her. "All right, I got it to work this time!"

"Where did you get that sword?" Nate asked, staring at it in disbelief. Sure, one could make items appear and disappear in this world with their item storage technology, but this clearly wasn't the same thing. He'd seen the toothpick sized sword before.

"My parents gave it to me," she said, turning it around and looking back at the painting. "Apparently they met Keldeo once."

An idea came to him, so he looked around. Most of their Pokemon had gone back into their Pokeballs while they were biking, but Argent and River were still out and about. "Have you tried to give that to River? Or one of your other Pokemon? If that belongs to Keldeo, and if what Meloetta said was right, maybe bringing it into contact with them will reveal their true self."

"I thought of that, but they won't take it from me," Rosa said. River even shook her head to the suggestion. Then Rosa focused on the sword a little longer before it turned tiny again. "I'm not even sure how to use this, but it must be able to do something more, I think."

"Odd. We might want to look into it." Then he pointed out a sign he'd noticed. "It looks like the current show is about local legends of Unova. There might be other pictures of interest here."

"Oh yeah," she said, so they looked further into the gallery.

Most of the paintings were of the legends about Pokemon, but there were some other myths on display. On the back wall, there were three paintings that stood out to the two of them. They were of the three legendary dragons of Unova. Not only that, but they were very recent, depicting them with their modern day partners. Hilda was with Kyurem in a snowy area, a guy named Hilbert was with Reshiram in a rocky mountainous area, and the former leader of Plasma N was with Zekrom in a forest opening.

Rosa pointed to the two latter paintings. "See these two guys? They were crowned the Kings back then, before they were recognized as heroes. Not only that, but they turned out to be brothers. Twin brothers, just like in the old legends about the twin heroes that originally made Reshiram and Zekrom what they were."

"That's spooky," Nate said. "Is Hilda related to them?"

She shrugged. "I don't think so. I hope not, anyhow, because there were rumors going around that she was dating or in love with one of them. Although, maybe that was like what's going on with us, just rumors because they were all friends. I did hear from them when they talked on TV that they were all friends, even though the way things were made N an enemy of the others."

But seeing those paintings didn't trigger any connection for Nate, not like seeing the picture of Keldeo earlier. Since they were both feeling hungry from biking around all morning, they headed across the street to find something to eat. The street was starting to get more crowded, so if they wanted to find a table, they would need to do so soon before the major lunch rush came.

Once they had eaten, Nate searched for the last harlequin signal. It led them further away from the ports, into the center of the city. And it was quite a nice center, a round open plaza that was limited to pedestrians and bikes. There were clusters of trees and flowers, a large fountain in the center, a grouping of various vending machines, benches, picnic tables, and what seemed like a natural stage in a raised area around the fountain. On the fountain's edge, there was a harlequin dancing around in a goofy way for a small audience.

"This is the place!" Rosa said, pointing to the fountain. "I mean, where Hilda made fun of Ghetsis. Maybe you'll see that."

"Maybe," he said, looking around. "I shouldn't get the harlequin's attention unless I'm sure I won't see something. But then," he paused. "I don't feel like I did when I entered that lobby."

After a moment, they went closer to the fountain. Still not seeing anything, it almost startled Nate when the app beep with the harlequin's. She was balancing on one hand. "Oh-ho-ho, it seems I have to do my job now!" she said, elegantly flipping herself back to her feet. "Whoooo's my visitor?"

The people who had been watching her started to move on, so Nate and Rosa were able to come forward while walking their bikes over. "That was me," he said, putting the kickstand down so he could let go of the bike.

"How nice! Welcome to Central Plaza!" She clapped her hands and twirled around. "Okay, I'll tell you about it. Castelia is built like a circle, from the formation of the docks to the northern edge of the city. And Central Plaza is the center hub of everything, the second that has ever been! It is a beautiful plaza where many people gather for celebrations, Pokemon battles, and contests. You should come every day and see what's going on!" The harlequin made a grand sweeping bow.

"What do you mean by the second hub?" Nate asked.

She tapped her head before standing back up. "At one time, Castelia was a smaller circle. The first hub was also the place where the city was founded, where the founder had the magnificent idea of building a magnificent city. If you want to go on a hunt for the foundation plaza, it could be a bigger hunt than searching for us harlequins." The harlequin nodded, then pulled a blue medal apparently out of her ear. "Hey, even if I'm in an obvious spot, you found me well! So here, take this metal." She tossed it over, then pointed to a street they hadn't explored. "Oh, and a free tip cause I'm nice! There's a video game company down that street. They're pretty cool, because they sponsor a free and public battle dojo for all sorts of Trainers to train themselves and their Pokemon. Not only that, but they have this awesome virtual reality machine running. I saw it the other day, and wow! I really wanted to be there, but the office told me to be here. Have a good one! Castelia, Castelia, here we go!" She then made a hurried spinning dance around the edge of the fountain.

"Oo, I wonder if I can get some karate practice in," Rosa said, looking back at that street.

"Or maybe find someone who can tell you how to fight with that sword?" Nate suggested, putting this medal with the others.

She shrugged. "Well there's no reason to be actually fighting, so a sword's actually kind of worthless outside of historical value and sport. This one might be worth something for it's connection to Keldeo, but not as a weapon."

"By that reasoning, wouldn't knowing karate be good primarily for sport?" he asked. It was a curious thing about this world. He'd read news websites most evenings, but there was never talk of wars or riots.

"No, it's a whole lifestyle!" she said, grinning.

As that was the last of the harlequins, he and Rosa headed out to bike back to the hotel. The harlequin there was juggling the jingly balls next to the entrance to the diner. "Hello, it's one of our happy players," he said. "Did you have a good time seeing the sights and sounds of Castelia City? More importantly, did you get all five metals?"

"I have them," he said, pulling them out of his bag. "That was kinda fun, certainly informative."

"Great!" The harlequin looked at the five, then pulled out a wad of confetti to throw over them. "And you have won! Fun fun, and you even got done before dinner, got done first! Which means, I get to take the tracker off your bike, and you get the extra prize package. Wah-la!" He then handed over a red box topped with a gold bow before going to make the bike Nate's fully.

Thinking that a clown's gift wouldn't be simple, Nate carefully checked the lid. It popped off as soon as it was touched, letting off another puff of confetti and bopping Ruby in the head. Inside, there were five Great Balls, a small bicycle pump, a bicycle repair kit, bungee cords, and a coupon for a free Casteliacone.

"And now, the bike is yours!" the harlequin said, coming over while idly tossing the tracker device. "Enjoy, and be sure to explore our beloved city even further. Castelia City, Castelia City, here we go!" He danced off while waiting on the next contest participant.

"Thanks!" he called, then turned to Rosa. "This'll be a big help, especially if we have a lot of ground to cover."

She smiled. "Yeah, since we're going to go all over Unova. That's great!"

* * *

After finishing the harlequin hunt, Rosa and Nate decided to look around for the Pokecenter and any stores that might be of use to them. As the sun began to set, the Xtransciever they had found last night rang again. "Good evening," she said, struggling to recall the guy's name for a moment.

But once he spoke, she remembered that it was Curtis. "Evening, Rosa," he said, his voice sounding rough and tired. "Sorry, I was planning on meeting up with you in Castelia, but I kept forgetting to call and ended up in Driftveil with some friends."

"That's okay," she said. "I wouldn't have been able to answer for most of the day. Are you getting a cold? You don't sound that well."

"I don't think it's a cold. I hope not; it should just be my voice getting hoarse from work today. Things went on longer than expected and it was rough. They brought me out here to go to a club and scout out, um, a business."

"Are you old enough for that?" Nate asked, as he was close enough to hear.

"Well, technically no but I, uh, we can usually get in. Who was that?"

"Oh, that's my friend Nate," Rosa said. "This is the guy who owns this, Curtis. He called me this morning."

"I see," Curtis said.

"Still, that doesn't sound like a good idea to be talking on the phone if your losing your voice or something. You should probably do something more relaxing."

"And drink some hot tea with honey and a bit of lemon juice in it," Nate suggested. "Or pineapple juice. Those would be better on your throat."

"I suppose you're right," Curtis said, oddly sounding relieved to be told not to go out with his friends. "Thanks for the concern. They've been bugging me to do things like go to nightclubs and such to unwind, or so they claim. But I'd rather be out fishing. I don't know if I have my gear here." There were sounds like he was searching a bag.

"Fishing sounds like fun, but I've never gotten to do it," Rosa said, glancing back at the shirts on sale that she'd been looking through. But it didn't hold her attention as much now.

Sounding more enthusiastic, he said, "It's a great thing, even times when nothing bites. When you get something, it's so exciting to battle against the catch to reel it in. I let the Pokemon I hook go most of the time, and the regular fish too unless I plan on cooking them. More about the fishing than the fish... ah yes, here it is. Don't have any bait, but I'm sure I can pick up something."

"And some hot tea or something so you feel better," she reminded him.

"Yeah, that too. I'm sure I can give the others the slip. Hey, if you can get a ferry up the river, maybe we can meet up."

"I don't know," Rosa said. "We've been biking around Castelia pretty much all day, so if I stop to sit for a while, I might fall asleep."

"That's too bad," he said, sounding disappointed. "We'll try again tomorrow, since I'll be back in the city then. Take care, Rosa."

"You too Curtis," she said.


	15. What's in a Nickname?

May 30

Castelia

"I'm going back to the sewers to train more," Nate said.

"Really?" Rosa asked, surprised to hear that. They were outside of the hotel on a bright sunny morning; it was already quite warm. While several people turned to look at them, she ignored them. "Why would you train there? Isn't it stinky with sewer wastes?"

He shook his head. "No, not that kind of place. It seems more like water drainage from the streets. Well, there are an awful lot of Poison Pokemon around down there, but it's effective as a training grounds. Why don't you come and see for yourself?"

"I don't know about that," she said. "I like that dojo that the game company has. Lots of Trainers are there everyday to battle each other, and you can even train with the virtual games. We're doing pretty good, actually! Except if we come up against somebody with an Electric or Grass type. Then it's pretty much over at the start..." Because even if River could strike hard, she still tended to faint easily. Sometimes her Frillish could withstand an attack or two from them, but that wasn't always enough. A few times, she had run into a Trainer with a Steel Pokemon like Nate's Magnemite that was hard to damage with Water attacks. But River could handle them.

"You could always look for more variety," Nate said, as usual. But then he added, "In Pokemon or moves, whichever works out. I was thinking about if I should pick up a third Pokemon myself, but I'm not sure what."

Rosa tried to convince him to the dojo for today, but it seemed he was set on finding a new Pokemon in the sewer area. That area didn't interest her, so it seemed they would be splitting up again today. While that disappointed her for a bit, she realized that he might come with her tomorrow to train his new Pokemon. That would be something to look forward to.

The dojo was in the building housing a company called Game Freak; they had set aside five whole floors of their building for it. The Pokemon battle area was free to anyone who could prove they had beaten a Gym in the past year, which was easy because she'd gotten two since April. While they were free to go to any of the five floors, there was a recommended battle level which most visitors would follow. It made it a tough choice for Rosa, since the first floor was for Pokemon level 20 and under, and the second was for levels 20 to 40. Her Pokemon were right around level 20, so the first floor was often too easy, but the second could be too difficult.

While she was working with Angel, she noticed a girl younger than her standing off to the side and watching them. She was wearing a hat and shoes with silk flowers attached to them, which made her noticeable. But then had her shoulders hunched forward and looked at the ground rather than those that tried to talk to her. But she did follow Rosa to the healing station. "Umm," the girl said.

"Hi, did you want to battle?" Rosa asked. That was the main purpose of this place.

She shook her head though. "No, uh, I don't have any Pokemon. I came here with my older sister. But, um, I wanted to know where you got your Swadloon."

"I caught her as a Sewaddle on Route 20," she replied. "I didn't see many out there, but there are a few."

"Oh." She put a hand to her chin. "Where is Route 20?"

"Between Flocessy and Virbank."

"Uh, that's no good," the girl said. "I, um, I heard you can catch them in Pinwheel Forest too, but my parents won't let me go out that way. They only let me go on Route 4, even though there's not many Pokemon out there. But I wanted to get a Swadloon, because they can become Leavanny, and Leavanny make clothes like I do, so, um..."

"Oo, did you make the stuff you're wearing?" Rosa asked, surprised to hear it. "Because it's really pretty."

"Um, yeah, all of my outfit," the girl said, turning pink and looking down. "Well I bought the shoes and hat, but I made the flowers myself and attached them. My grandma taught me."

"Wow, that's great," Rosa said. "Sewaddle make their own clothes too, because I saw Angel sew leaves onto her cloak. She still does."

The girl looked over at Angel. "Oh, she has the loveliest name. Ummm..." she fidgeted uneasily.

"Thithill," the Swadloon said, shifting her leaves aside to look up at the other girl.

She would like to have Angel, Rosa could figure out. And it might be good to give her over, especially since she was looking more like a Grass Pokemon. Although, Rosa knew she shouldn't be thinking like that. But it would make the girl happy, and Angel might be happy too. "She's a bit shy, but she's nice and tries her hardest to do well," Rosa said. "Hey, would you like to have her? I've got several others, and I'm traveling so I can get other Pokemon readily."

Angel looked at Rosa, back at the girl, and back at Rosa. She then showed one of her small legs and waved to the girl. Was that a sign that she was okay with that?

Although the girl looked up at her with wide eyes, she soon stammered out, "Umm, well, I couldn't just take a Pokemon. I have nothing to trade. But you're kind to offer." She shifted her hat.

Hearing that, Angel gave a quiet whine and huddled back in her leaf cloak.

"Hey sis, what's going on?" an older girl asked, coming over to them. Rosa recognized her as someone she had fought earlier, both today and yesterday. But she had used entirely different teams to do so.

"Oh, I was, um, just talking to this girl about her Swadloon."

"You could take her across the bay, right?" Rosa asked. "You two could get a Sewaddle there. Although I would've traded."

"Hmm...would you still trade?" She brought out a storage device and searched on there. "I could get you a Ducklett I haven't really used, or some others."

A Ducklett? Rosa's smile brightened at that. Duckletts were cute, and they seemed to move around often; seeing one today didn't mean you'd see it in the same area tomorrow. It might've been a headache to track one down herself. But this seemed like it could make all of them happy. "I'd like the Ducklett. Okay, I can do that trade."

"Sure." The older sister showed her how to do a trade without a machine. "You don't get evolutions this way, but that doesn't matter with these two," she explained. Once the trade was made, she turned to her little sister. "But we'll need to find one to activate your Trainer license."

The younger sister was delighted at it. "Thank you! And thank you too, um... hey, may I have your phone number? I'll send you a picture when she evolves so you can see too."

"Uh-huh, sure," Rosa said. "Actually, I'm gathering data for the Pokedex, so if we could meet up again at that time so I can scan her, that'd be great."

"Okay," the girl said. Her name turned out to be Melissa, while the Ducklett's information revealed her sister to be Tabatha. And the Ducklett himself was named Grim.

* * *

Nate wasn't sure what kind of Pokemon he was searching for, but he'd seen in his short look yesterday that the drainage system was likely long and sprawling. There should be a variety down here. Since he had no particular new team member in mind, he did his usual routine of catching many of the Pokemon and periodically releasing the ones he wasn't going to keep. The channels of the area were filled with water, but floating bridges allowed him to get around easily.

He let Ruby and Argent roam around freely. The Pignite usually stayed by his side, but Argent occasionally wandered off into the dim shadows, coming back when called. One time, the Magnemite came back on its own, squealing and waving its magnet arms around. "Sqiizzzzik!" It jabbed in the direction it had come from.

"Did you find something interesting?" Nate asked. When Argent seemed to nod (a different move as it didn't really have a head), he walked in the direction his Pokemon led. Around a corner, they spotted sunlight coming down a set of stairs. It wasn't the ones that they had taken to get down here. Curious to see where this led, he went up there.

They ended up in a small area that was surrounded by skyscrapers on every side. There wasn't a street that led here, only a few alleyways. And of those, only two seemed like they were meant to be used by pedestrians to get here. Despite that, there was a small park here, with tall grasses, flowering bushes, and even a tree that must have been thirty feet tall. The plants all looked healthy despite being in this hidden pocket of the city. From the grasses, he saw movement that suggested a few Pokemon made their homes here. A small pink feline face looked at him for a moment before its owner vanished into the grass. It was a quiet area; there only was another guy on the other side of the tree, looking around and frowning.

"A secret area of the city, huh?" he said, mostly thinking aloud. "It's like one of those places you only find by exploring a game. Hmmm." He closed his eyes and thought. Was this just a game? It certainly didn't seem so. The world was much too spontaneous and independent to be that. Maybe the game had just been a path through which to cross between worlds.

Right then, something damp plopped onto his head. Opening his eyes, he saw white. It turned out to be a lacy camisole with a wooden clothespin attached to it. Nate looked up and saw a number of clotheslines crossing between some of the buildings. On the lowest one, two stories up, there was a brown Pokemon trying to cross overhead. The line wobbled and dipped; the Pokemon's paw bumped into a clothespin and made the attached shirt dangle. The Pokemon stopped for a moment, possibly rethinking its decision to cross this way. But the wobbling of the line must have made it harder to balance, and it fell off with a fearful cry.

The other guy in the park turned immediately to the sound. "Hey!" He ran over.

Ruby was the one closest to the spot; she caught the falling Pokemon. Seeing it from a better angle, Nate recognized it as an Eevee. There was a pair of panties hanging on its ear; other articles of clothing fell through the air as well. The Eevee was wide eyed and tense. Once it squirmed, Ruby let it hop out of her arms.

"What were you doing this time?" the guy asked in an exasperated voice. "Geez, how'd you even get up there in the first place?"

"Probably up the fire escapes," Nate said, glancing around. That seemed like the most reasonable way.

The Eevee whined and crouched close to the ground, holding its ears down.

"I'm not going to scold you this time; seems you scared yourself enough." He snatched the panties off the Eevee, which caused it to flinch. "Man..."

"What's going on?" a voice called from a window above them. There was a woman peering out the window through the bars of the fire escape. "What're you doing with my laundry down there?"

"Sorry m'am," the other guy said.

The woman groaned, then climbed out of the window to come down and fetch her clothes. The other guy and Nate helped her out. Meanwhile, the Eevee remained crouched, looking down at the ground in a guilty manner. Ruby and Argent stayed near it, trying to talk with it.

Once the woman was back in her apartment, the other guy said, "At least we didn't get yelled at. Thanks for having your Pignite catch her."

"She did that on her own," Nate said. "So thank her."

He raised an eyebrow, then shrugged. "I guess. Oh hey, but you seem like the kind of person who's good with Pokemon."

"How can you...?" He was about to ask how he could tell, but the other guy kept talking.

"You could be the kind of person who could bring the best out of a rare Pokemon like an Eevee," he said. "How about it? You interested in trading Pokemon?" He looked at the Pignite.

"Not Ruby," Nate said, hardly thinking about it. "I'm not trading Ruby for anything."

He had a look of surprise at the intensity of that denial, but didn't let it deter him for long. "Okay... well what about the Magnemite? Or do you have another one?"

"I'm not sure if that's an even trade," Nate said while various bits of data ran through his thoughts. Eevees were rare in the games, but Magnemites had an unusual and useful typing. "I don't have any others."

"Well," he looked down at the Eevee, who was still acting like she'd been told to sit in a corner because she'd misbehaved. Then he took a Pokeball and fiddled with it.

"You probably could find a trade for her easily," Nate said, looking over at the area of tall grass. There were likely different Pokemon here than in the sewers, so it could be worth trying a few fights against the wild ones here. Or even doing more catch and release; he might need to check into that dojo to get money for more Pokeballs.

But to his surprise, the guy passed him the Pokeball. "Look, you've really got to be the kind of guy who cares about Pokemon, and knows a lot about them. So here, take her. I don't care about a trade anymore, just take her." Then he took off down an alley before Nate could refuse.

He watched the guy run off for a moment. What was that about? If what applied in the games applied here, then Eevees were rare and desirable Pokemon. They had many options of what to evolve into, but they had some charm staying in their basic form. Why just give one away to someone at random, just based on someone seeming like a good caring person?

The Eevee was still in her spot. Maybe she caused trouble. For some people, it might be better to be rid of a troublesome Pokemon than trying to reform it. Nate considered that he should have the Pokecenter check over her carefully in case there was some deeper trouble. But when he checked the status screen, he spotted another reason the guy would have wanted to pass the Eevee to someone else. Her nickname was Panty Thief.

"Hmm, I wonder if I can change nicknames now," Nate said, sitting down by the Eevee. "Looks like you're with me now." Since she didn't react, he tried petting her. "What were you up to? Climbing up there... to explore?" He looked back up at the clotheslines hanging overhead. There were several others in use. While he could understand bird Pokemon being up there, the Eevee seemed more like one that would be on the ground.

Looking up there, he felt a familiar feeling. There was something about this spot, either up there or down here.

…

The air was still cool, but there were tulips blooming in this hidden park. "I wonder who keeps up this place," Hilda said, looking around. "It's pretty, considering how many sidestreets we had to take to get here."

"They should be proud of their work," Kyurem said. "Could we stop here for a short time?"

She turned back to him, raising her eyebrow. "Sure, if you want. We could let the others out too, since there's not much of a crowd."

"Not quite yet," he said, touching the icy half-mask that he always wore. "I want to ask about the one you love."

"What do you mean?" she asked, confused by that turn in topic.

"You knew that both Hilbert and N were interested in you," Kyurem said. "They've been away for nearly a year now. Have you decided between them?"

"Oh... not really. I thought I'd wait until they came back and see how they felt. I'm happy enough just having a lot of friends."

"That's good to know," he said, nodding. "But one thing I thought you should know... I love you too."

She looked at him for a moment; he usually didn't joke around, but this was hard to believe. "You do? But you're a Pokemon, and an immortal at that."

"Yes, so as I am and at this time, there's not much I can do about it. Perhaps in the future, but," he came closer to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Do what makes you happy. As long as you're well, I'm satisfied."

He said this because he thought they were alone. But above them, on the balcony of an empty apartment, there were two strange people dressed in black. A third like them appeared out of thin air. "They're not ready," she said.

"This would have been a good opportunity," the other female said. "But if they say no, we'll have to wait."

…

He was in a bright artificial place. Kyurem didn't know where he was and so far he hadn't cared. Between what they had done and what they were doing, it was hard to get motivated to do anything. He should care, but...

Sensing some other mind trying to make contact with him, he opened his eyes. There was someone else in there, startled at seeing the dragon move. However, Kyurem was more concerned with the one who wasn't there.

He growled a little. "You're not skilled at this," he stated. "How you found me... you're looking for Hilda? You'd need to be able to look across time and space to another world; she's not here. If you can find her and bring her back, do so."

…

Nate felt a static shock against his cheek, nearly knocking him off-balance. He wondered if that had broken his apparent contact with Kyurem or if he had lost that himself. "Bzzzt!" Argent was floating right in front of his face.

"I'm okay," he said, nudging the Magnemite away. His head was starting to hurt, but it didn't seem as bad as earlier ones. Ruby put her arm around his shoulder, happy to hear that.

"Errr," the Eevee said in a soft voice. She was sitting up now, tilting her head at him.

"I saw something too private to share, I think." He got up, getting a sharper ache in his head for doing so. "But... she said it was a combination of factors. The scene in the lobby was a similar time and place. I have the place here, but not the time, so someone who was there then..." He turned around and saw a movement of black. There was no one there.

Then she appeared: black clothing that would have blended into shadows, white hair partly covering ethereal red eyes, graceful posture of someone dangerous. Very dangerous. Nate knew that for certain because he remembered seeing her (or one of her siblings, he knew she had a brother and sister) kill someone. But, how? Was it one of those images he'd been given as a warning, or something he remembered himself?

"What are you doing here?" she asked in an emotionless voice.

"How... do you... know me?" Nate said, hearing his voice as if it was far off. His vision began to blur painfully.

* * *

Rosa paced in the lobby of the dojo building. "Aw come on Nate, pick up," she said, watching her Xtransciever. Maybe he wasn't getting a signal? He was supposed to be in the sewers.

But before he answered, Curtis' Xtransciever rang instead. She decided to try Nate again later, taking up the other phone instead. "Good afternoon!" she said.

"Hey, good afternoon to you too," Curtis said, sounding cheerful this time. "I hope you don't mind me calling all of a sudden."

"That's no problem," Rosa said. "Are you free to meet up now?"

"Well, not really. I'm on lunch break..."

"What, now?" Rosa asked in disbelief. "It's almost two."

"I know, I know," he said. "But my schedule's like that most days. I mostly just wanted someone to talk to, since I've got a few minutes free before I need to get back."

"That's okay," she said, considering why he might have a schedule like that. "So does this mean that you're a chef at a restaurant? Since you're busy all the time and can't have lunch at lunchtime."

He laughed at that. "No, not even close. I couldn't be a chef... well, unless I was allowed to cook fish. My uncle made the best grilled and fried fish in the world, and he taught me how. I'm not as good, but I do all right."

"Oh, but fish are hard to cook, aren't they?" Rosa asked, thinking about helping her mom cook. "Because you have to get all the bones out and the scales off, and then it's really easy to overcook them."

"That's true. But fish is the main thing I can cook that's not already prepared for you. Or ramen, but I guess that doesn't take much effort and would be hard to mess up."

Rosa giggled at that. "My friend Hugh messed up ramen once!"

"What? How? I mean, maybe get distracted or if it's not the store-bought stuff..."

"Actually, he ripped the seasoning packet open too hard and the stuff went all over his clothes and the floor. Then he tried to make broth anyway; it tasted weird."

"Yeah, that would do it. I wonder what they put in there. I know there's lots of salt, but what else?"

"I dunno."

"What're you doing today?"

She grinned. "Awesome things! I just got a call from Pokestar Studios; they had me and Nate try out making a movie, and it's going to be test screened today! I'm trying to find him so we can go check it out."

"Pokestar? Man, it's been a long time since I worked with them."

Rosa raised her eyebrows. "Really, you acted for them?"

"Um, yeah," he said, sounding a little embarrassed. "They have fun projects, but unless they've changed management in the past couple of years, I'd be wary of working with them too long. Things went a little shady with the last couple of films I made under their brand. And I've... overheard talk that Pokestar works better as a hobby rather than a main source of income, unless you're one of their standard actors. Then it's a whole other can of worms there."

"Like what?" she asked.

"Just think about it for a bit. They have to play their roles dozens of times with various guest actors and even though they tend to have some experience, they aren't allowed to alter scripts as much as the guests. Sometimes I wonder how they can stand not getting bored."

"Huh, I guess it could bore them. I thought it was lots of fun. Plus, don't some of the guest actors go on to become really famous? That would be so awesome!"

"Maybe," Curtis said, but like Nate, he didn't have a lot of enthusiasm about it. "I'm not saying that you can't have fun with it. And maybe you will become famous, who knows? Just keep track of how much you work, because they've been known to avoid paying guest actors. Ask for a statement of working hours."

"Okay, I'll keep that in mind," Rosa said. That might satisfy Nate too. She glanced at her own Xtransciever. "Aw, well I wanted to go see the test screening with Nate, but I think he'd try to call me back by now."

"Maybe he can't get a signal? Oh, my break's over shortly, so I need to go. But thanks for talking."

"Sure, call whenever you like," she said. He seemed nice enough, if obsessed with his work at times. She wasn't sure why Hugh and Nate didn't seem to trust him.

There was a crash nearby. She looked over as Bard came rushing to her side, looking wide-eyed and spooked. By the wall, Medusa was scowling at a Yamask, holding her tentacles aggressively while it chuckled. The Yamask put the mask it was holding in its tail over its face. There was a guy near the Yamask, looking at at a tall magazine rack that had been knocked over.

"What happened?" Rosa said, going over to pick up some magazines that had slid her way.

"Are these your Pokemon?" the guy asked. "You should keep a better eye on them."

"The Yamask isn't mine," she said.

"Of course not," he said while the Yamask kept laughing. He walked off, not even helping to pick up the magazines or the rack.

Feeling mad, she refused to look at him. "Hmph. I bet that Yamask scared you Bard, didn't it? Well, can't let someone else's rudeness get to me. I know you don't mean trouble."

"Hoo wa," Bard said, seeming embarrassed. He watched the Yamask leave the building warily before going to help her pick things up.

With that done, Rosa checked the ferry schedule on her Xtranscever, seeing that there was a chance to get to Virbank in time. However, she finally got a call back from Nate. Maybe she'd give him a hard time about taking so long to get back to her. But it was immediately apparent that something wasn't right. Blurry fingers appeared in front of the camera, then were moved back to show a rocky wall with a dome-shaped lamp on it. While it shook, she occasionally got a glimpse of Nate. "That should be your friend," a woman's voice said.

Nate replied in a pained voice. "Wh-who? What are you doing here?"

"Nate?" Rosa asked, feeling for a moment like her heart had stopped.

"Is that your name?" the woman asked.

"Is it? I don't know. Ugh, what did you do?"

"What did you do to him?" Rosa snapped. If she had hurt him, then she would have to pay dearly for it.

"I brought him into the tunnel past the Castelia sewers," she replied, so plain and calm that Rosa might have calmed down if she hadn't added, "I am deciding if he needs to die."

"I won't let you!" she said, startling a group that was just entering the building.

"Hmm. Then you may wish to come here quickly." The woman's black gloved hand appeared briefly in front of the screen as she disconnected the call.

Rosa looked over at her Pokemon, who were all watching her in concern. River nodded, soon followed by salutes and agreements from the rest. "Guys, we've got to go find them!" she said, clenching her fist at her side. "I don't know where exactly she means... but we'll find them, I know it! Let's go!"


	16. Obligatory Sewer Dungeon

May 30

Virbank City

Rosa knew where the main sewer entrance was: at the end of the dock closest to Skyarrow Bridge. While she noted that the odd frigate was at a nearby dock, she didn't pay it heed past that. She had biked from the dojo to here quickly, determined to stop that woman from doing something to Nate. Looking down the long tunnel leading behind the sea wall, she wondered where to go from here. He had said that this was more of a water drainage system, which meant that it had to extend to all of the streets in Castelia. From that, this place had to be huge.

While most of her Pokemon had to be recalled to go faster, River had wanted to ride in the basket as usual. The Riolu jumped onto the dock as Rosa put up the bike. "Hey, you can see auras, right?" she asked. "Could you find him down there?"

Her ears lowered briefly as she lowered her head. But instead of indicating that she couldn't, she went to the stairs and looked down. Thin mist came up through the entrance, disappearing into the clear air above. Then, River waved her to follow. Maybe it would be hard, but she wanted to try.

"Okay, I trust you." Rosa walked down the stairs after the Riolu.

Past the initial hall, they went down a long flight of stairs to reach the sewer itself. There was more mist down here, although it was still thin and staying close to the floor. There was a ditch partly filled with water on their right, as well as someone standing on the concrete path on the other side. Thankfully, it was someone they knew. "Hugh!" She ran across a gate that linked the two paths. "You've got to help me! Nate's in trouble and I don't know how to get to him."

"Nate? Where is he?"

"Somewhere down here. I got a weird call from him, but there was this woman off camera that was threatening to kill him. They're supposed to be in some rock tunnel connected to this area, but I've never been down here so I have no idea where they'd be..." Tears blurred her eyes so she tried to rub them away.

Hugh took her hand with both of his. "Calm down, we can find him. There's a lot of areas that are rocky around here, but our Pokemon should be able to help. Let's go."

"Yeah," she said, smiling and feeling better since Hugh was going to help. She brought out Bard too as they hurried along the path, trying to find where Nate and that woman could be.

Down below Castelia's streets, the cool humidity filled the air more than any stench. What smell was there reminded Rosa a little of Roxie's Gym, possibly due to Poison Pokemon. There was light as well as clean pathways, but not the rocky wall from Nate's call. The concrete wall went on for some ways, soon splitting up to begin following Castelia's streets. In the middle of all paths, there were the large trenches partly filled with a shallow level of moving water. The water stains were several feet above the current water surface. There were a few bat Pokemon and Rattatas in the way, but their own Pokemon turned out to be stronger then them. With their every movement, the mist at the feet swirled around.

"What was he doing down here?" Hugh asked, looking around for hints.

"He said he was going to train here this morning, and look for Pokemon to catch," she explained. "But then that call came a few minutes ago. We have to find him soon!

"I came down here for training too. That way's a dead end, and it's concrete all the way. But some of the central areas are rocky. Were there small blue lamps and lots of shadows? Because other tunnels can get dim."

She shook her head. "No. There was a lamp in the shot, but it was one of those dome lamps, the, the LED ones we keep for emergencies."

"Huh, hadn't seen one of those down here. What do you think, River?"

The Riolu was keeping ahead of them, darting a few feet forward, peering around with her ears twisting this way and that to catch all sounds. At Hugh's question, she pointed ahead. However, there was a gap where another trench entered the one they were following. They had to cross back over the trench to another path. This one soon split up, one path going ahead and the other going left Before they could even decide which way to go, a pair of people dressed entirely in black came from the passage ahead. And not just any black outfit; they had the uniform that the other Team Plasma members had.

Hugh recognized that right off as well. "Hey, what are you thugs doing here?"

"Thugs?" one of them asked indignant. "How dare you..."

"What are you kids doing down here?" the other snapped back.

"It's not like this place is off-limits," Hugh said. "Unless this is your base of operations. Is that it, Team Plasma?"

"How do you know about us?" the first one asked, now wary.

"It's none of your business what we're doing here," the other said. "If you don't scram now, then we'll just have to take all your Pokemon away from you."

"There's no way that you'll be doing that!" Rosa said, clenching her fist. If they couldn't win with Pokemon, then she wouldn't hesitate to attack them herself. After all, she had Keldeo's sword.

And she knew that Hugh probably felt the same way. "You're picking a fight with the wrong people," he said. "So you want to use force? Then you're about to feel my rage, punk."

Soon, they were fighting a battle together, her and Hugh against the two Plasma thugs. Their opponents each had three Pokemon which seemed a good deal tougher than the wild Pokemon wandering the sewers. However, Hugh's Servine Vino was just as serious as his Trainer in battling them. Even the normally goofy Bard picked up on the mood and didn't play around as much as he usually did. They won without having either Bard or Vino knocked out.

The two thugs looked shaken by the battle, one stepping back while the other looked for some escape route. "You two are so serious," one said.

"Of course," Hugh said. "Not only that, but we're both trained in martial arts, so don't think that you're going to escape unscathed. We've got some questions that need answering."

"Aaaaa, leave us alone!" one of them said, bolting down the path to left. His partner soon followed.

As did Hugh. "You're not getting away from me!"

"Hugh!" Rosa called, worried again about what happened to Nate. But her friend was already gone, disappeared in the dim lighting of the path he had taken.

"Urrrruu," River called, pointing out the way opposite that Hugh had gone. Rosa was caught with indecision a moment. Hugh could be in trouble, recklessly running off like that. But then, he could handle himself (most likely) and Nate had been in bad shape during the call. Before she decided, a voice called out to her.

"My my, what a fiery temper on that one," a man said, coming from the paths ahead. He didn't seem to be one of the Plasma goons, as he wore a flared white lab coat; odd blue wires and devices attached to his eyeglasses and the sides of his head. Was he a robot? "But that was a magnificent battle to witness. I'm sorry for not intervening, but you both seemed to handle your Pokemon well. If I may, I would like to ask you some questions for my research."

An odd man, but he didn't seem bad. "Sorry, but I'm in a hurry," she said. "Do you know about a rock tunnel being attached to this sewer? I need to find another friend; he's in trouble."

"Is that so?" he asked, shifting his glasses. Then he pointed off to the right and behind him. "It's back that way. Keep ahead on this path, then cross over the trench on the right at the next gate. Go ahead from there and it's just a few feet on."

"Okay, thanks sir." She then ran past him and followed his directions, River and Bard hurrying at her side.

* * *

Several months ago, construction crews working to expand the waterways of Castelia had discovered an old tunnel that led straight to Driftveil, underground. The straight regular paths and occasional wall carvings showed that it had been dug out deliberately, likely by humans and Pokemon. While there had been a lot of excitement at first, it had settled down to occasional archeologists and explorers coming through here. And so, it had been picked out as a meeting place for members of Team Plasma working in both Castelia and Driftveil. Side tunnels could be blocked off with large boulders, letting them have some privacy.

Which was important, as Colress was meeting with Bronius and a few others who were here. "I assigned you more than enough people for the main task we assigned to you," Colress said. "What's holding you up? We know that he has her."

Bronius shifted his weight, but otherwise did well in hiding anxiety. The dark green cloak he wore, designed precisely for Plasma's Sages (who weren't Ghetsis), helped out with that. Being a large man who preferred joviality to seriousness, he always seemed uneasy when he was being businesslike. "He and the ones working for him have been more alert than we thought. Not only that, but we still don't have a clue as to where he's keeping her."

"She must be close, as she's been seen with him." Colress tapped his foot. At his side, his Elgyem managed to mimic him despite floating in the air. "I'm sure you had some technologically minded ones with you; that would be easiest."

"Yes, but..."

They were cut short by a boy's scream, and that was cut short by a choked struggle. Frowning, Colress turned and saw that the two female members of the Shadow Triad were there when they previously hadn't been. They had some way to teleport, so that only startled Triste and a few of the lesser Plasma members. What was more of a concern to him was that one of them had her hands on the throat of a teenaged boy.

Sighing, Colress held a hand up to Bronius. "Stop choking him," he said to the strange women.

"I was calming him down," she replied, even calmer than he was normally. But she did let him go, leaving him to drop to a sitting position on the ground. But he seemed to still be conscious.

That could be more of a problem than Bronius' team being slow. Colress turned back to the Sage. "Okay, the short of it: get a move on or I'll get Ghetsis involved personally. I'm sure none of you want that. If you have any better reasons to give me, we'll talk more later. Now scatter, just in case this situation gets uglier." Not giving Bronius a chance to respond, he went over to the two Triad members. "What are you doing with this boy?"

"He was going to attract attention to us," the other woman said. She then explained what they had noticed about him.

While the boy decided to go into a fetal position and grip his hair tightly in his hands, Colress listened and grew increasingly interested in what the Triad believed. It seemed far-fetched, yet matched up with what Ghetsis had told him on a few occasions. He crouched down by the boy, apparently Nate by the friend they had called, to get a better look at him. "How sure are you of this?"

"Very sure," she replied, her sister nodding.

It was hard to know without seeing his face. While it might be true, he wouldn't believe it without hard evidence. And, that was easiest to get right here. Colress took a clump of the boy's dark brown hair and tugged at it lightly. A few came loose; after he made certain they would be suitable, he pulled out a small plastic baggie to keep them securely in. The sound unfortunately got Nate to jerk his head up and look around, but his eyes didn't seem to connect to anything. Not only that, but he soon closed them in an expression of pain.

Sometimes, one had to take a risk. "What is your name?" Colress asked, working to sound reassuring.

"M-my name?" the boy echoed, his body tense and shaking. "My name... my name... what is my name? Who are you?" He turned his head, but only opened his eyes partly. "Are, are we safe here? I got..." he paused as if searching for the word.

"You got what?" Colress asked.

"Did I get purged again?" he asked, holding his head in his hands again. "But I thought I got transferred, or something, I don't remember so I must have been purged. Who are we?" His eyes opened and were focusing now. However, he first saw the two Triad members. That made the blood drain right from his face. "Aa, aa, y-you..."

"I won't let them..." he said, starting to reassure Nate as best he could.

But their strange guest then turned to him and gripped his wrists, his eyes wild and wide open. "Where is he? What are they doing here? I was dismissed, honest, and I even accepted the purgings, so why are they here? If something's happened to him, I can do my best to help, just don't involve them in this as it'll only end in disaster!"

"Who are you talking about?" Colress asked. Even though he was gripped by hysteria, Nate might say something useful still.

"Who?" He gave a laugh which quickly dissolved into sobs. "I... I saw... June 5th... Lostlorn Forest... they'll be there. He'll be there, when dragons descend. But... how? He..." Nate began shaking again, seeming like he might be sick.

Hoping that this state would keep him from remembering too much, Colress stood back up. "Do you have something that can calm him down without half-killing him?"

"Of course," one of them said, coming over and pulling out a fine tan powder that she blew across Nate's face. While the drug forced his body to relax, he continued crying.

"Did he have any Pokemon with him?"

"Yes, three which I confiscated."

Colress shook his head. "Return them to him. With as unstable as he seems to be, he'll cope best with their support. That is well proven."

"We don't think it's wise to keep him alive," one of them warned him.

"Nonsense. It will be fascinating to see what comes of his presence. Just the fact that he is here supports and creates interesting theories. And without an artifact this time. Maybe we'll see what those gifts of the gods are really capable of." He looked one of them in the eyes, something that most in Team Plasma wouldn't dare do. "If I have to, I'll speak with Ghetsis about this. But I'd rather keep this quiet."

"So be it," she replied.

Feeling encouraged in getting their cooperation (they didn't have it in them to lie), he nodded. "Good. In that case, I'll be going before his rescue comes. Come, Triste." He headed out to the entrance to Castelia's sewers. Enough Trainers came in and out near the docks that it shouldn't be seen as strange if he did the same.

"Uwaa," the Elgyem said after a moment, the sort of sound someone might make if confused.

"I've got his hairs, so it shouldn't be hard to prove or disprove what they think," Colress said. "But why he's here, that could be difficult to discover. I hope he doesn't remember me, because I'd like to get his trust when he calms down. That is, if this didn't break his mind entirely."

Triste came a little in front of him, waving his glowing fingertips in circles. "Do dasa gem? Coess."

He smiled a little. "Are you trying to say my name? How adorable." But that didn't keep his mind off this mystery for long. "June fifth, huh? Perhaps it means something. Perhaps it doesn't. But, it should be harmless to check into that. I could use a day off. What do you say, hmm?"

Eyes brightening, Triste seemed to like that suggestion. Before they could get far into the sewer area, though, they ran into a problem. A couple of the Plasma members that had been dismissed earlier had been spotted by a pair of teenagers and were starting up a Pokemon battle. Colress and Triste stopped in a darkened area to watch. After all, it was a part of his project to observe battles.

Once the battle was over, the boy pursued the two down a different tunnel, leaving the girl with her Dewott and Riolu. Colress went up to talk with her. She had caught his attention with her style as a Trainer and the obvious connection she had with her Pokemon. Then it turned out that she was the one who was going to rescue Nate. Reckless, really. She was going to challenge some of the best killers he had ever met and she took right off with her Pokemon beside her once she had the right directions.

Colress watched the girl run off to the ancient tunnels. He wondered briefly if he should warn her of what she was getting herself into. Or even if he should go back in there himself. He didn't entirely control the Shadow Triad; only Ghetsis could do that. While he had warned them, they might still try to kill Nate for whatever reason they had against him.

However, it was more important that he not be seen in or near that encounter. He needed to avoid suspicion. That girl had been in a hurry, as well as the boy that had battled with her. Because of that, they probably would forget about his presence within the hour. Unless he reminded them of it... in witnessing and recording the battle, he noticed that the two Trainers had different ways of fighting, different amounts of attentiveness and focus. If his hypothesis was correct, then the girl was suitable for the experiment, as an active battler who had high socialization with her Pokemon. With a Dewott and Riolu, she might even be a recent start.

A moment later, he reviewed data that his computer had recorded. Electronic communications from the Pokeball gave him her OT number, identifying her as Rosa Wilburs. Checking her League records... she had two badges and had registered this spring. She'd be perfect.

He tapped his glasses. "Find time to make contact with this Trainer," he stated quietly, then headed for the sewer exits. Not only that, but he would have to find out what was holding up the Castelia group. He should handle the judgment for that himself. If he passed that off to Ghetsis, the Plasma workers would be punished more harshly. Colress needed them out and about, continuing his work.

In the meantime, it might be safe to look into their goal himself.

* * *

Just as the strange man had said, they soon ended up in a rock tunnel. Or maybe a cavern, given how large it seemed from the few electric lights inside. River seemed more confident that they were going in the right direction, as she was no longer pausing to check the way. They turned down a small passage, one that Rosa might had missed entirely on her own. And back inside of a smaller area of the cavern, they found Nate and his captor.

She seemed even stranger in person, starkly dressed in black with only some white bangs, a strip of face, and red eyes showing. She stood quietly by Nate, who was curled up in a ball on the floor. Thankfully, he seemed to be breathing. "Have you come to take him back?" the ninja asked.

Furious, she gripped the sword case with her left hand. "Yes." Quickly, she pulled out the sword so that it turned to its larger size. "And I'm going to make you pay for hurting him!"

She looked at the sword for a moment, then at Rosa. After a moment of silence, she asked, "Will you?" Then she pulled out a pair of daggers and threw one at her.

Rosa didn't even think as she knocked the dagger out of the air, then dashed for the ninja. She blocked with her remaining dagger and vanished. Feeling like she'd try to retrieve her weapon, Rosa turned and saw the ninja reappear as she picked the knife up. Rosa tried to attack again, but even though she saw the blade make contact, it passed by with only resistance from the cloth. The woman's daggers definitely hurt when one of them slashed across Rosa's left arm, cutting off her Xtransciever. Her next attack did make contact with the ninja, cutting her in the hip. The strange woman then vanished again.

"To your right!" someone called.

Rosa turned as the woman appeared further down the tunnel, holding an arm defensively near her injury. "You drew blood. How remarkable. Take him, but be warned: he may be dangerous to anyone near him." She vanished one last time, not appearing again.

"What?" Rosa said, momentarily bewildered. Nate, dangerous? How? What did she have against him anyway, and... her arm hurt and was bleeding badly, so she ought to take care of that. But then, "Nate!" She ran over to him and dropped down to check on him. He seemed to be asleep, but pale with his face streaked by tears. Otherwise, he didn't seem hurt.

"Deo ah!" Bard called in worry, coming over and touching Rosa's shoulder. River was there too, watching Nate and waving at Rosa to take care of her injury first.

"I hope this doesn't turn bad," Rosa said, putting the sword down to check her bag for something to help. She came across a potion in the pocket where she kept them for easy access during battles. They were meant for Pokemon, but she didn't think it'd be too bad if she used it on herself. As she sprayed it over the wound, her arm started to go numb. It was a mess with all the blood; hopefully it would keep from being infected or made worse.

On Nate's Xtransciever band, he kept the Pokeballs to his team secured. There were three now, but they were all marked as being unconscious. What kind of Pokemon did that woman have to beat Nate? Or had she fought them herself? But wondering about that now wouldn't help. She went to retrieve her Xtransciever to call for help. That was probably the best thing to do for now.

* * *

Castelia Sewers (elsewhere)

Their footsteps echoed through the concrete tunnels, backed by the quiet movement of water and sporadic calls of Pokemon. It was cool in this area, which could have just been being underground. However, there was also a light mist and dampness in this area, like the air had been suddenly cooled, making the water in the air condense. It could be a clue, but they had expected something more.

"I wasn't expecting to spend our first day back in Unova in the city sewers," Hilbert said.

"We can't ignore this problem," N said.

"I know."

"But if he is down here, I would have expected to hear something," N said, looking down a tunnel. "The mist looks thinner over there."

"This is where our senses led us, but his connection still feels faint," Reshiram said in the human tongue. At the moment, he even looked human, if with an old-fashioned fashion sense. They wouldn't be able to fit in these tunnels as dragons.

Zekrom was nearby, trying to grasp the mist with her dark hand. It slipped out of her fingers like any other mist. "This city is so busy; the souls all around us are nearly overwhelming. I still get a sense of him, just out of reach and yet far away. I wonder what's happened to him. It must have been sudden or else he would have been able to make contact with us."

"Maybe he's somewhere in the city?" Hilbert suggested. "And with all the people, buildings, and machines here, all the noise makes it difficult to hear his voice? In a sense."

"That could be," Zekrom said.

Reshiram had his hand on his chin, thinking on the problem. Hilbert felt unnerved as he sensed these two so concerned, confused, and, well, ignorant. After all, the twin dragons had kept calm around other dangers and problems. This was something none of them had expected. Kyurem wasn't answering to their calls and all they could get from him was a feeling of loneliness. They had come here following that feeling, but now they seemed to be at a dead end.

A guy's voice further down the tunnels called out, "Rosa! Where'd you go?" Someone's footsteps slashed onward, but not towards where they were.

There was also the dial tone of an Xtransciever. It turned out to be N, trying to make a call. However, no one was picking up. "It's says I've got a signal," he said, although his worries were starting to turn a different way. "When did we last hear from them? I was just trying to remember."

Sometimes, knowing exactly what another person felt and wanted made Hilbert uneasy. But this had been lingering unsaid for some time now: N was more worried about not hearing from Hilda than about Kyurem. Logically, the missing immortal could be a bigger problem. N was in love with Hilda, though, so that impacted him more. He'd been wavering for months about returning to Unova mainly because of that. For a little while, Hilbert had felt jealous and wanted to get him to forget about her. But then he decided that the jealousy wasn't worth it. Now he wanted to see the two of them together, eventually.

"I know it's been a while," Hilbert said, not certain the exact amount of time.

"Late last spring," Reshiram said. "Neither of you got many calls from Unova since then."

"If she's been out of contact that long, why haven't we felt anything significant about Kyurem?" Zekrom asked, thinking aloud. "I thought he just wasn't doing anything major. He should have contacted us if something went wrong."

"Maybe he couldn't," N said.

This wasn't helping, Hilbert thought. They were just getting more worried; they needed something more concrete. Then, an idea came to him. "Hey, I know: we should get up to the Pokecenter and see if we can check their records. It'd at least tell us where they've been. If not, I know that Hilda was from Nuvema. We might get better answers asking around there."

"That'd be better than wandering around down here," Reshiram agreed.

A short time later, they were in the Pokecenter near the docks. There were a number of people in here, as usual for the city. N was uncomfortable with this. Even if Plasma had kept him hidden for so long, he had been caught on public records with his challenge against the Elite 4. People might recognize him as the leader of Team Plasma. Sure, they might also remember that he had dismantled the group, but it was still a problem. So Hilbert decided that they needed to do this quick.

And for that, he activated Attract, to make this go smoother. Plus, fewer people would pay attention to N. He waited in line for another person to be taken care of, then passed over the Pokeballs to his team. They had taken on a few fights in the sewers, but nothing challenging. "Hey there," he said, giving a warm smile to the nurse on duty.

She was middle-aged woman who had half of her hair shaved off to make room for a large bandage a little above her ear. Most likely some kind of surgery scar. Although she was a little skeptical, she was curious about him. "Good afternoon. I'll take care of your Pokemon right away." She then took the balls and set them up in the healing machine by the desk.

"Thanks sweetheart," Hilbert said, leaning on the counter. "Oh, and could I ask for a little favor? Please?"

She looked back at him, still fighting against his charm. "What do you want? I have several hours left of work."

He shook his head. "Nothing you need to leave here for. I was hoping to get a peek at some of the Pokecenter network records. We really need to find a certain friend of ours."

"We can't share the records of Pokemon taken care of here," the nurse said.

"I know," he said. "But you record the Trainer ID numbers from the Pokeballs, right? So if you searched for that number, you could find out when a Trainer has used a center. We haven't heard from her in months and it could be trouble. So please, just this once?"

"Hmm," she said. The chance that it was trouble pushed things in his favor, but she still wasn't sure.

"He speaks the truth," Reshiram said. "We need to find this information."

The nurse raised an eyebrow at this at first, but then she took a closer look at him. Reshiram appeared to be a young man now, with long white hair streaked with red and orange at the ends. Then she looked back to Hilbert. "Wait, you're the White King, right? I suppose I could trust anyone who would stay close to Reshiram for so long. You have a reason for asking me?"

At that, Reshiram glanced at Hilbert and briefly grinned. Hilbert rolled his eyes at that. Yeah, he was caught in a small bind here. She was fishing for a compliment and as he had to be serious to keep the dragon's favor, he needed to be genuine about it. But really, knowing what people wanted made this simple. "Well we didn't come in here for you, but I'm sure glad that we found you," he said, giving her a flirtatious look. "I don't know what you've been through, but however rough it was, it must make you shine like a diamond."

The nurse laughed at that while she took the Pokeballs out of the machine. "Oh my... I'm sorry about that, young man, but thank you. Now, what's the ID number of your friend?"

Hilbert brought up Hilda's contact information on his Xtransceiver and through that, they were able to find records of where and when she'd been using Pokecenters. Unfortunately, it seemed as though she really had disappeared. The screen he saw was of the last two weeks she had been recorded using Pokecenter services, late April up to June sixth of last year. She had been to a lot of places, including Flocessy and Nuvema. The last three recordings were on the fifth and sixth, all within White Forest.

Pointing out the last one, the nurse said, "That place is a few miles north of Lostlorn Forest. And the other two are from the center close to the Entree. They're both small Pokecenters, not even having shops."

He took down the town and area names for all the centers listed, to ask around those area. "I see. Thanks a lot, it'll help narrow down the search."

"You're welcome," the nurse said. "But if I get in trouble for this, you'd better try flirting with my boss to get me out of trouble."

"Oh dear, that would be trouble, huh?" he asked, chuckling.

Since they were there, N also handed over his team for healing. "Is that how you pick up girls?" N asked.

While the nurse laughed, Hilbert shrugged. "Well you should really just be yourself." Especially if he meant trying that with Hilda. "I'm just the kind of guy who can get away with dropping sweet lines like that."

"If you mean sweet to be cheesy, then I won't argue with that," he replied.

"Hey, watch it buddy," Hilbert said in a mock threat, making N laugh. It did lift the anxiety in their group, even with Zekrom and Reshiram. Even if it was at his expense, it was good.

With this new information, the group headed out for one of the docks, mostly to get away from the crowds. "White Forest is a large area," Zekrom said. "But it seems we're mostly interested in the central and southern part."

"And it might help to ask around Nimbasa too," Hilbert said, visualizing a map of the region in his mind. "I know there's a path from there to Entree that passes through Lostlorn Forest, so asking people around there would be good."

"Maybe the Pokemon around Lostlorn too," N said, most likely thinking of checking that angle himself. Even if he had gotten better accustomed to cities and being around many people in the past two years, he still preferred staying in natural areas and talking to Pokemon.

"We could fly over White Forest ourselves," Zekrom said, looking at Reshiram. "A quick look over the whole place while you two focus on getting information from those areas. I'm sure if we find signs of one of them, there'll be signs of the other."

Reshiram nodded. "That would be reasonable."

Once they agreed on a date and place to meet back up, the two dragons flew them up to Nimbasa, where the four split up.


	17. Memories of the Church

May 30

hospital, Castelia City

It didn't take the doctor long to stitch up the wound on Rosa's arm. "It's surprisingly small for the amount of blood they had to clean up," she said. "Did it get reopened before you got it treated?"

Rosa shook her head. "No. I did spray a potion I had on it."

"A potion for Pokemon? Huh, that's odd." She checked it over before starting cleaning it gently. "It does show signs of healing already, not like a fresh wound. Normally those potions don't work that effectively on humans, due to different immune systems. Still, we need to be careful with it." Before long, they had Rosa's arm all bandaged up and set her up for another appointment later on to check on it.

Nate was not so lucky. They soon determined that he had been poisoned, put to sleep in a way that had a chance of dropping him into a coma if he had breathed in enough of the spores. For that, they had to inject the antidote directly into his bloodstream as well as put him in a breathing apparatus to clear his lungs. Rosa had decided to stay at the hospital to wait for him, after asking the nurses to let her know how he was doing. "They didn't want to at first," she told her mother over the Xtransciever. "Since they don't want to share that kind of thing except with family members. But I convinced them that I was the closest he had to that, since not even he knows where he's from."

"That's good," Janice said, a little relieved from worry. "Hopefully they can get him cured soon. But, it's amazing that you managed to get him away from someone who sounds so dangerous. You shouldn't run into situations like that."

"But I had to go help him," Rosa said. "I didn't really think about it, I just knew that I had to. Actually, I wasn't really thinking when I was fighting her. I knew what to do. It's weird that you never got it to do anything like this; it's like magic."

Her mother shifted how she held her arm, glancing away for a moment. "Magic, huh? Rosa..."

"What? Do you know something about it?"

"Well," she closed her eyes for a moment. "I really should tell you in person. Tell you what, I'll meet up with you two in Castelia on my next day off. I'd be good to check up on him too."

"Oh, sure, that'd be fun!" Rosa said, already thinking about things she could show her mom when she was here. "When would that be?"

Janice got up and walked across the room to find the wall calender. "That's... the fourth. One of my co-workers has a flying Pokemon, so I'll see if I can borrow him to make the trip. In the meantime, you'd better make sure you, Nate, and all your Pokemon are doing okay."

"Right, I'm keeping an eye on my Pokemon," Rosa said, looking over at where Bard, Medusa, and Grim were playing with some little kids in the lobby. River was sneaking about between the lobby and Nate's room, while Rosa had had to recall Finn for being aggressive. "They're letting Ruby stay with Nate, but they won't let Argent fly around because he'd mess with the equipment. It was kind of sad, since he was just as upset."

"That is a problem you start running into with Magnemites and their line. But you're in Castelia; talk with the Pokecenter nurses and they might be able to tell you where to buy an EM field dampener to keep Argent from disrupting electronics."

"Okay, I'll let him know. Oh, and he picked up an Eevee somewhere! She could be so cute, but I really have to ask what he was thinking when he gave her that awful name she has. It's... it's just horrible."

* * *

May 31

Panty Thief the Eevee wasn't sure what she'd gotten herself into now. She been passed to yet another new Trainer, something that was getting painfully familiar. Normally, they'd get disappointed quickly and keep her in her Pokeball most of the time. After a few weeks, she'd get passed on again. But then, she hadn't had a new Trainer who went mindless, staring ahead at nothing for hours.

Or one who went into hysterics. That had been scary; not even his two other Pokemon knew what happened to him. Nate had started shouting nonsensical things at the strange woman in black, but then lapsed into hyperventilating when she knocked him to the ground. Not knowing what to do, the Eevee thought about running away, but then remembered that she was supposed to stick by her Trainer, whoever it happened to be at the moment. The Pignite and Magnemite with them had started attacking the woman to get her away from Nate, but then she called out an Absol that defeated both of them. And the Eevee too, when she had froze up in fright next to the boy.

This ended up with them staying in the hospital. Nate had finally woken up an hour before dawn. But even when the doctor had removed the mask over his face and chest, he didn't seem happy. He sat in a chair in the room, looking out the window and not saying anything. Ruby stayed close to him; she tried tugging at his sleeve. "Come on, we should go outside on a walk. That'll help you feel better."

The Eevee lowered her ears, nervous. She should do something to help; that was what a good Pokemon did. But, most of her Trainers thought she was a bad Pokemon. She wanted to be good, but being good was so confusing. Not only that, but most of the Pokemon she had worked with were mean and jealous. Would this Pignite be the same way? She acted so nice yesterday, but that could be an act.

"Wh-what's wrong with him?" the Eevee said, creeping closer to where Nate and Ruby were.

"It's complicated," Ruby said, more concerned about him than in bullying her. "He has this amazing psychic power to see the memories of others, but it can hurt him a lot. Sometimes I think he'd be better off without it."

"Sounds scary," Panty said, drawing her front paws close. What if he saw how terrible everyone said she was?

"And he doesn't even remember his own memories well," Ruby added. "He seemed really sad about it when I first met him, or maybe just confused. I've been trying to take care of him, because that's what my mother said I was supposed to do: I'd be helping out a new Trainer and I was to give him or her all my support. But I don't understand much of what's wrong with him, so I do my best to keep him from being hurt in other ways." She paused. "I didn't do well yesterday. I want to cheer him up."

"Y-yeah," she agreed.

Cheer him up... there was something that might work. She wasn't sure, as it had gotten most of her Trainers really upset with her. But it had always cheered up her original Trainer. He'd even instructed her how to go about it better. Once she was sure Ruby wasn't paying attention to her, Panty slipped out of the room and began looking around for a gift.

She walked along the area cautiously, once darting behind an extra bed to hide from a nurse. If she got caught, she'd get yelled at. But, she was trying to do a good thing. Making her Trainer happy was good. Maybe if she did this right, he'd give her more of a chance than others. She searched around until she found a likely spot. There was a woman in one of the rooms, asleep. If Panty poked around, she might find her clothing.

A few minutes later, she sneaked back into the hall, carrying a pink bra. It had been in a drawer; such things had been tricky to open at first, but she had learned for her first Trainer. Before she could get much further, though, a Pokemon called out to her. "Hey, what're you doing?" It was a huge pink Pokemon, a Blissey that was hopping her way.

Panty froze for a second, eyes wide. Then she bolted down the hall. The Blissey yelped and ran after her. The bra's strap flipped into her eyes, distracting her. While she tried to shake it aside, she crashed into a tall potted plant, knocking it over and dumping loose dirt on the floor. The Blissey was still running for her, and one of the humans was now paying attention. This was bad! Panty dropped the bra then dashed for Nate's room. She got under his chair and huddled there, shaking. Why did everything she try always end up making trouble?

For good or for ill, this managed to snap Nate out of his trance. He turned to see what was going on, then left the chair to kneel down by it. "What was that commotion about?" he asked.

She looked up at him, staying put. The boy reached his hand to her, cautious. "I'm gonna be punished again, aren't I?" she asked

"What were you doing?" Ruby asked, leaning over and trying to see her too.

"Strange creature," Nate said. "You were?" While he tried to think of it, he cringed and put his head in his hands. "Ugh, what happened to me?"

"Did you forget again?" the Pignite asked, putting a hoof on his shoulder. "That's..." she sniffled at the thought.

He looked up at Ruby for about a minute, taking her hoof while he thought. "Ruby... right, you're Ruby. I should talk about this. There was someone..."

"Good," she said, relieved. She seemed like she might say something more, but decided to hug Nate instead.

"Is there a problem?" one of the nurses asked, coming into the room to check on him.

"My head hurts, but that's normal," Nate said, starting to get up. He nearly fell down again, but Ruby still had a hold on him. "I had some medicine for this. Oh, and I was with somebody..."

"Rosa?" the nurse asked. "I can call her up if you want."

Panty took a few steps closer and saw Nate nod. "Yeah, I need to talk to someone who's been around me recently."

Maybe she wasn't in much trouble this time. At least as long as she avoided that Blissey, nobody should know what happened. But it was too bad that she didn't get a chance to see if that was something Nate liked. She'd try again later.

* * *

Upon being informed that Nate had memory problems previously, the doctor wanted to run a few scans on him just in case. But it seemed to be all right this time, at least Rosa thought so. She and Nate had spent several hours going back over their adventures the past few months. Sometimes he spaced out while trying to recall them. Eventually, he was able to remember most of what had happened.

"What about yesterday?" Rosa asked. "We had talked in the morning, but split up when I wanted to train in the dojo and you wanted to train in the sewers. And what about that Eevee, huh? Why'd you go and name her that?"

"Name her what?" Nate asked, reaching over to the bedside table to check on the Pokeballs.

"Well, that," she said, blushing with a mix of embarrassment and anger.

"Oh... she doesn't have my Trainer ID in the OT slot." He looked at it, then nodded. "Yeah, that's right. A guy in the park gave her to me."

"What park?"

With those questions, Nate was able to recount the events of yesterday. He'd trained in the sewers until Argent found a path up to a hidden park, apparently the original central plaza of Castelia. He'd gotten the Eevee in a funny incident; Panty herself seemed nervous and shy, hiding under the chair for most of the morning. Once the other Trainer had left, Nate had one of those visions, this time of Hilda and Kyurem talking (although he seemed oddly reluctant to say what it had been about beyond that). The strange ninja woman had been in the vision too. Not only that, but Nate seemed to have made contact with Kyurem somehow. But after that...

"I know I saw her in the park," Nate said. "She... she seemed to recognize me."

"Do you remember her?" Rosa asked. "She seemed scary."

He shook his head. "I feel uneasy thinking about her, but I can't think of why now. She could have killed me if she really wanted to. And, there's something else I remember, from before we met."

"Really? That's great!" She smiled, hoping it would reassure him. "What is it?"

Nate closed his eyes. "It's hard to tell; I think it's a group of different memories, but I don't know how to separate them yet. I've... I met Hilda."

…

"This place should be safe," Nate said, making sure that the door shut tight behind them.

"Frank says it feels peaceful," Hilda said, walking further into the church. "Amazing place, especially with the bright moon."

The church always seemed full of light and color, even though most of the structure was black or white. The stone floor was polished to a shine, reflecting the moonlit colors from the stained glass above; thin pillars supported a soaring roof, making the strong structure seem airy and light. In alcoves to the sides, there were small altars with bright paintings. In front, there was a solemn statue of an angel along with the largest mural of stained glass in the building.

Their footsteps echoed in that space, both of the humans and the five Pokemon with her. "Even so, it'd be a lot better filled with people," Hilda said.

"It was like that, once," Nate said, his throat tightening up at the thought.

One mournful day, he had sat down beside a woman who was lost in thought. "It was an awful night," he said in sympathy. "Um, he let me borrow this." He offered her a bag that had a black DS secured in a mesh pocket.

"Oh, well," she said, looking down. "I think I know what you mean, but it's been hard to think straight. I either feel horribly sad, or I don't feel anything at all."

Nate bowed his head. "You've been hit by the mind purges; somebody doesn't want us to remember something. But, your son..."

She got up suddenly. "You keep that," she said. "I have no use for it. I'm sorry, but I can't..." She got tongue-tied, then walked off in a hurry.

Although he felt terrible for her, he only watched her leave the church. They kept losing people as the situation here got worse and worse. Had he really done all he could?

"Can't we do something about this?!" a young man said, standing up in the crowd to talk to the church's pastor.

"We must keep our hopes alive and pray for peace," the pastor said.

"More than that," he said. "The law has no power anymore and there's no chance of getting help. This is a disaster and it's all been caused by them... and we're supposed to just sit here and hope things get better? Shouldn't we be fighting them, to make them pay for what they've done?"

Nate watched the exchange nervously. Both sides were correct, but it was something that was hard to understand. Most of them wouldn't want to understand it. With what he had seen, Nate couldn't deny it... when he could remember it.

"I know it's hard but we must have faith," the pastor said, trying to keep the group calm and together. But it would be hard for anyone, given the chaos they were facing.

As time went on, the congregation dwindled. Many had abandoned hope while others had died. Nate stuck with the church, trying to help the other members. However, there were moments when he thought of giving up too. Ridiculous laws were coming into being, enforced by unreasonable monsters. The streets and buildings crumbled a little more every day. On the other hand, this church managed to keep itself intact. As long as it stood, he could find some hope to cling to.

"Nate, don't you think it's time to go home?" his mother asked. She was pacing around.

"Don't disturb the peace here too much," Nate said, although there weren't many visitors lately.

"Your father should be home soon," she said, not paying attention to what he said. Or maybe even what she was saying herself. "Maybe I should make something special for dinner. That would be nice, wouldn't it? It would be nice, good for you."

Nate felt a lump in his throat, but then he found it hard to think of. "Mom... Dad's not coming back. He's gone, like the others."

"We'll have a nice family night at home, with games," she said, lost in her own ways of coping. "Or you could invite a friend over. What about that one friend of yours? I don't think that I've met him yet."

"He... he..." For a moment, the memory of what had happened to his friend was raw, fresh as if he'd just witnessed that tragedy. Then the pain turned physical and... the memories were gone, purged from his mind.

"We can make a crossword today!" his mother said merrily, looking at the refrigerator in their apartment and pulling off an 'L' magnet.

"Mom, no!" Nate said, coming over and taking the letter from her. "These words are important."

"Really?" she asked, looking at him in puzzlement.

He nodded, placing the letter back in 'SOLARFLARE'. "You know... about the memory purges. I keep my passwords here so I can figure stuff out faster."

"I thought that's why you went to the church so much," she said.

"I have a lot of reasons to go there." He paused. She seemed coherent today, a least a little. Did he try to talk with her? Or would she just get distracted again? She'd been like this ever since his father had gone missing. "Mom, do you ever feel like there was something you should have done differently in the past?"

She thought for a little bit. "I think we should have lived in the country rather than the city. That would have been nice, wouldn't it? Hey, maybe we can still move to a nice country home. I'll talk with your father about it when he comes home."

His father wouldn't ever be coming back.

The city streets were ominous when barren. Nate walked in the street, knowing there wouldn't be any vehicles driving around. While it was out in the open, at least he'd have a better view of trouble when it arrived. Nothing happened on this trip, as he arrived at the church safely.

Like the streets, it was quiet. The feeling of loss lingered in Nate's heart, although he found it hard to remember those who had once attended here. It was strange; he knew he should be afraid, upset, or sad, but this had gone on so long that he had become numb. Most days, he played video games on his DS for lack of anything else to do. But sometimes, he felt a need for some kind of hope or peace, and so he returned here. Maybe he'd come across another visitor; most likely not.

There was someone else here. Nate paused halfway through the long sanctuary, looking up at the front. In front of the angel statue, there was another young man, taller than he was. He turned as Nate approached him; his eyes were haunted from dealing with everything that was going on.

Maybe he remembered more. "I thought you lived with your mother."

"She's gone," Nate said, stopping a few feet from him.

"I'm sorry," he said, looking down.

Nate's mind hurt for a little while, but he could remember him now. "Do you want my help now?"

His old friend tensed. "I... I can't involve you. I told you that. You'd get hurt. But you shouldn't..." He approached him, starting to put his hand on Nate's shoulder but hesitating.

"The memory purge doesn't erase the memories," Nate said. "It just cuts them off from conscious recall. But with the right triggers and recollection paths, I can usually restore my own memories. It's gotten harder and harder to do. I'm not even sure how many times I've been purged now. Seems to happen once or twice a month, though."

"Your mind must be in such disarray," he said, nearly crying at the thought. "Maybe even damaged... I'm sorry; I wish I really could help you, but I'm cursed to hurt others."

"I don't think you're cursed. You're defeating yourself; I've been really worried about you. I'd like to help you fix things..."

"How are we supposed to fix things now?" He rubbed his eyes. "Do you remember what I've done?"

"I believe so."

"How can you still worry about me then? Both of your parents are gone. And, everyone that once came here, it seems." He faced the angel statue again. "You have much grief to bear, and danger is still present where you live. But you worry about a failure like me?"

"I still believe in you," Nate said.

He began shaking, so Nate reached out to him. But he pushed his hand away. "Don't touch me. I don't want you to die too."

Abruptly, the light in the church dimmed. "There's still a chance that," Nate began to say.

"Get out of here!" he said sharply. "They're coming and I don't want you to die too. I... thank you for being my friend, but I want you to find peace, and be happy. So you shouldn't stay with me."

"But,"

"Go!"

Recalling the last time he had seen his friend, Nate could almost hear the echoes of him saying that. He shivered. There had been a good reason to leave. Even if he wanted to help... he told Hilda about it while they were in the church. "Once it was safe, I started coming every day again. I thought I might see him, and maybe he'd accept my help this time."

"That's harsh of him," she said. "I wonder if he knows it hurts both of you more in doing that."

"He might know that," he agreed. "While he keeps acting like this, there's not a whole lot I can do."

Things were quiet for a moment. Then Hilda nodded. "Maybe I can help him."

"How?" Nate asked, not seeing how she would have any chance at that.

But she smiled and winked at him. "It was in your journals, silly. I'll show you later. But first, look at that!" She pointed up at the stained glass behind the angel statue.

He looked at the familiar picture. "What about it?"

"You said you didn't recognize Pokemon as being real, but they're there! Those dragons, they're gods that protect my homeland: Zekrom and Reshiram. That's proof, that they're here in this sacred place. From that, I know what's going on. That makes me think that I can do something you can't. Maybe it'll fix things, or maybe it'll all blow up in my face. But, if I can do something, I should try."

"I know my mind's messed up, but really?" Nate asked, looking at the glass panels. The place was so familiar that he hadn't really recognized it, but the dragons up there did seem like ones he'd seen in one of the games at least.

One of Hilda's Pokemon said something, followed by her saying, "What happened to the Pokemon?"

"Isn't it... in my journal?"

Back at his apartment, Hilda checked back on his journal and did some planning with her Pokemon. Then, she came over to him. "Hey, did you ever dream of going to another world?"

He glanced up from his DS as she plopped down in the seat across the coffee table. "What for?"

She shrugged and gestured out the window. "Well it's not like this place is that great. Sorry if it offends you."

"Not really," he said, looking back to his game. "I am being escapist, but only with the games, and only because it's as you say."

"Then here, try this one." She tossed a white DS cartridge onto the table between them. "If you start a new game on that, you'll end up in that world."

Picking up the game to look at it, he noticed it was a Pokemon game he had picked up some time ago. But the label was smudged and all he could tell of the version was a 'C'. "Is this a way to get to another world? I... I got some games from a boy, shortly before he disappeared. And then some other visitors to the church gave me other games when they lost interest, or when others were lost."

"Have you played that one?" she asked.

"I don't think so."

"Well Frank notices dimensional warping around that one," Hilda said. Her Gothitelle, standing nearby, nodded in agreement. "Maybe it's because I got here, but he's pretty sure that's one way to get to my world, starting a new game with this one."

It puzzled Nate, and concerned him. "Why me? You could use it to get back home."

"I read your journal and gave it some thought. That's not going to be the only way for me to get back home; there's another power in this world that could accomplish the same, plus I still have these. But I'm worried about you staying here. I mean, you're a cool guy and it's a shame you're caught up in all this. You should try a fresh start where I come from. Although," a worried look appeared on her face as she looked up at the Gothitelle.

…

"What was the problem?" Rosa asked, leaning closer in interest.

Nate thought about it a bit longer, then shook his head. "I don't quite remember that yet. But she was going to the church to see if she could find clues about that one friend of mine. He," he snapped his fingers, but it wasn't coming to him. "I can remember what he looks like and the one conversation we had at the church, but everything else still escapes me. Or is blocked off, that's more accurate."

"You remember some, which is great," she said, trying to cheer him up. "But then Hilda really is in another world... your old one! Because you remember talking with her and Kyurem said so. I wonder what it would take to get her back home."

"We still need to figure out why and how she ended up in my world," Nate said. "Kyurem's missing and I don't think he was with her when we met."

"Hmm... oh, but there was something else big! You were involved in telling your memories, so I didn't want to interrupt, but you mentioned that you kept your passwords on the fridge. One of them was solar flare, right?"

That... he took hold of his necklace. "That's right, I did. Maybe if I try to imagine it, I can remember the rest. But that is more than I knew." He pulled the ball apart to get to the drive, then plugged that into his Xtransciever. Its screen wasn't that large, but he could look at them on a regular computer later on. For now, he just wanted to know that the password would work.

Fortunately, all it took was putting in 'SOLARFLARE' with all-caps to unlock four folders. None of them were the one that requested opening first. Instead, he found one folder filled with lengthy papers on various subjects and another folder with an entire book. Those two were way too long to read over while he was talking with Rosa.

The third folder seemed to be a few video game guides, filled with charts, statistics, and competitive evaluations. "I think this is some of the stuff I recalled about Pokemon," Nate said, skimming it. "But it's for video games, so probably not as useful in actually training."

"Were you that into your games?" Rosa asked, trying to get a peek. Nate went ahead and let her look at the file he'd opened. And a good thing too, since she noticed something. "Hey, that's Game Freak!"

"You recognize that?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yeah, that's the company that sponsors the public dojo and runs the virtual battle simulator. I don't know much else about them; I think they do all sorts of games, including Trainer sims."

"Trainer sims?" something about that seemed familiar.

"They're RPGs, I think, that mimic the Pokemon League challenges. I always thought they were kind of silly because you could go do that yourself with real Pokemon, but they must have a following."

While it seemed like something to look into, that would have to wait. The last folder that the password unlocked was the most interesting, as it was filled with photos. The first one was even of the church; a large group of teenagers, including Nate, was sitting on the wide steps that led up to it.

"Wow, you must have had lots of people attending your church," Rosa said. "Do you recognize any of your friends?"

"I feel like I should know them," Nate said, looking over the faces. "I don't think I could name any of them right now."

One thing he noticed while looking through the pictures was that even if someone was smiling, they didn't seem to be actually happy. Other pictures in the folder showed some reasons why that might be: a fire in the city streets, masses of black smoke in the air, evidence of damaged and neglected buildings, a distant riot. There was even a couple showing some kind of soldier, completely covered in black and gray body armor. Whatever his old world had been through, it was a huge mess.

Eventually, they found a picture of Nate with a woman, both of them sitting on a bench in a park where even the grass struggled to survive. She was dressed in a whimsical yellow shirt, a long green skirt, and a green silk scarf tied around her head. He immediately recognized her. "That's my mother," he told Rosa. "She was kind of childish, actually. Whatever happened, it affected her badly. I tried to help her as best I could."

"Maybe she was trying to stay optimistic?" Rosa wondered. "She seems like a fun person, at least here."

"That sounds right." She must have died too, given how sad he felt just looking at the photo.

There were a few more with him and his mother. Others were of places that might have been important like the church, but none he recognized aside from a shot inside his apartment home. There was even a good shot of the angel statue and the strained glass window behind it; Rosa quickly agreed that the two dragons in the window were Zekrom and Reshiram. Seeing that, Nate was sure that he was missing a lot of vital pieces of his memory. Perhaps having his memory tampered with so much had caused him to temporarily forget about Pokemon and a lot of other general information too. What were Pokemon to his world? And why had his memory been purged so much anyhow?

And at the very end of the folder's collection, they found a few photographs of Hilda and her Pokemon, in his world.


	18. Patience and Fortune

June 1

Game Freak building

The name rater had an office, although Nate wasn't sure how the position was important enough to merit an office. But when he had called, the name rater said that he was in the lobby of the building with the Game Freak company. He walked over with Rosa, since he didn't have as much energy as usual. While they let their Pokemon follow, that made it hard to keep track of some. The Eevee didn't seem sure what to do with herself, so Nate picked her up and carried her for a while. After a tense moment, she relaxed and seemed glad for it.

The lobby was active, with a group of kids in matching green uniforms meeting with an adult leader. Scout group? He wondered briefly if he had been involved in a club like that back home. Probably not. The man they wanted was at the sitting area near the door, reading a book. He had a sign on the table saying 'Castelia Name Fortunes: Find the future in your name, or change the fortune of your Pokemon through names.' "Hey, you were the one who called me earlier," the name rater said once they introduced themselves.

"Yes," Nate said, sitting down on another couch nearby. Ruby watched the scouts while he put the Eevee on the couch. She tensed and held her ears low for a moment. "I wanted to ask about getting the nickname of this Eevee I was given changed."

"Sure, let me see your Trainer ID card and her Pokeball," the name rater said. Nate passed both of those items over, but it wasn't long before the man shook his head. "Your ID number doesn't match the OT number registered on this girl's Pokeball, so I won't do it."

"Aw come on, please?" Rosa asked. "Her name has to be changed."

"It's traditional not to except by the registered first Trainer, plus changing any of a Pokeball's information is of some risk," the rater explained.

"I could understand why when it was a game mechanic," Nate muttered quietly, looking down at the Eevee. She still didn't seem certain of what she was being allowed to do or why she was being paid attention to.

"Pardon me?" the name rater said, trying to pass the Pokeball back over.

Nate pushed it back over to him. "Did you even look at her name? You claim you're able to tell the fortunes of others through their names. She has the name of Panty Thief; wouldn't that lead to a terrible fortune for any Pokemon? I talked to the Pokecenter nurse and she's been passed from Trainer to Trainer at an unusual rate for any Pokemon. If you know how to get the official nickname of a Pokemon changed, and from your word usage I'm sure that you can change it, then wouldn't you do so to improve the fortune and potential life quality of one? I don't care if the wishes of her original Trainer are in the name. She ended up with a pretty crappy wish and deserves to have a better name."

The man looked at the status screen again. "Well she does know Thief," he said. But when Nate narrowed his eyes at him, the name rater nodded. "You do have a point. This isn't a name I would recommend and unless it's for a mischievous Pokemon, it would cause a lot of bad fortune for the Pokemon and the Trainer. Very well; I can get it done. What kind of name do you have in mind? Something close in sound to what she has would be best, so she has an easier time recognizing it."

"I've been considering that," Nate said, nudging the Eevee. "I've only known her for a few days."

"I can do some other forms of fortune telling and personality reading as well," the name rater said. He wanted to get a closer look at the Eevee, so Nate picked her up and put her on the coffee table between them. For a moment, she stayed crouched down, but then she seemed to realize that they didn't mean her harm. "Her flower is the violet, sensitive and shy, but could bloom beautifully if given good attention. I couldn't tell you why or how she has the name she does. What would you call her? She shouldn't have her name changed after this, so choose well."

"I'll call her Patience," Nate said. There hadn't been much of a feminine name that he could think of that was close to Panty Thief, but that worked well in his opinion.

"That fits her well," the name rater said. "Her fortunes might turn around under you."

* * *

'To Rosa-

The film you made with Nate was a smashing success with the test audience! They had a lot to say about it, mostly about getting so caught up in it that they were all wondering what would happen next. It's safe to say that we'll be releasing this film to general audiences this summer, so be on the lookout for that.

Also, I recall your friend wasn't as enthusiastic about acting, but we would like to bring you both back in when our writers review your scenario and figure out how to adapt the rest of the serial to it. I wouldn't want any other pair of young actors continuing that version; you both have star qualities, even if it's not obvious at first glance. But if you'd like, there's a few other scripts we're actively filming that I think you in particular would be ideal for. For summer filming, our schedule is Tuesday to Saturday from 1:00 PM to 5:45 PM. Give us a call any time to set up a filming appointment, or just drop on in to see if there are any directors looking for actors. I wish you the best!

From Stu Deeoh, President of PokeStar Studios, Virbank'

Although she'd read the email twice already, it still made Rosa giggle with excitement. It was proof that they had done really well, a personal note from the studio president inviting them to make more movies and having high hopes for the public release of the Brycenman short. Wait until Nate saw this! Maybe it would even change his mind about making movies with PokeStar. Besides, wasn't he supposed to become known by doing something exciting? This was perfect!

"I hope they have some movies where I could use all of you!" Rosa said, turning and looking at her Pokemon, who were waiting with her in the battle area of the Game Freak building.

"Woottta!" Bard said, bouncing around and clapping his paws together. River was trying to be dignified as usual, but found it hard to do with him by her. When he hugged her, her eyes went wide and she pushed him away, only to have it be mistaken as a form of play.

"Wooorraa," Medusa the Jellicent said, smiling. Meanwhile, Grim the Ducklett glanced around at the others, looking as though he was expecting a treat or battle for being out. And Finn did not seem impressed, as usual if it had nothing to do with battle.

"What's happening here?" Nate asked, smiling at the sight of them as he, Ruby, and Patience came close. Argent was looking out a window, not wearing the tan scarf that he now had to lower his natural charge releases. They were in a battle area so it wasn't necessary.

It was even better that Nate was already back to normal after what had happened to him, Rosa thought. She held her Xtransceiver out for him to see. "Look, we got a response from Mr. Deeoh! Our movie short is going to be released this summer and they want to see us again. Won't that be awesome?"

"It might be more awesome if we had a way to get back and forth quickly," he said. "It's not so bad now when we just need to catch a ferry."

"So do you want to go back today?" she asked, eyes wide with excitement.

He laughed. "Maybe. We'll see. This is a pretty good place to train, like you said. But, I was wondering if I could talk to somebody from that Game Freak company. I want to ask if they've heard of a certain game."

However, they weren't able to get into the actual company offices or track down someone willing to talk to them. Maybe another day.

* * *

In the evening, Nate and Rosa met up in the hotel diner. Someone had the TV nearby turned up, for the game show that was running. Apparently it was one where the contestants had the help of celebrities. Rosa seemed interested in one, a blond teenager that was wearing a dark blue shirt with an intricate silver depiction of a dragon over the entire thing; he also wore a wristwatch that seemed like it would be pricy. "I dunno how much I can help you, but I'll try my best to think of stuff," he said to the young woman who had picked him out of the panel. Then he broke out into a spontaneous song, "For my sweet lady Rosemary, my answers shall never tarry." There were lots of whistles and cheers from the audience as the contestant Rosemary blushed at that.

"She's so lucky to get Christoph to sing to her," Rosa said, in a partial daydream. "I mean, he's usually not the smartest panelist there, but he's always so sweet and charming."

"Wouldn't it be a better idea to go with the one who is smart?" Nate asked.

"Oh, but that's no fun!"

He chuckled. "I guess not. What does he do anyhow?"

"Lots of things!" she replied, her expression brightening. "He mostly sings, but he also acts in commercials, does these quiz shows, did some Pokestar shorts, attends all sorts of charity events and festivals, helps out with the Pokemon adoption agencies, puts on lots of concerts all over the world, and he was in a sitcom last year that they stupidly canceled after just one season. He's really really talented, and makes it all look so easy. Christoph is the best superstar out there, no contest."

"How long has he been in show business if he's done all that?" Nate wondered. "He looks about our age."

"He released his first hit song when he was nine," Rosa said. "That's how amazing he is... oh, hang on." She opened up her bag and pulled out the extra Xtransceiver she had.

"You still have that?" Nate asked.

"We haven't been able to meet up," she said before accepting the call. "Hey there Curtis!"

"Hi Rosa," he replied, sounding tired. "I was wondering how your friend was doing."

"Nate's fine now," she said. "We spent the day training our Pokemon and now we're out eating supper. Isn't that right?"

Nate raised an eyebrow. "I'm fine, thanks for asking," he said, a little louder than normal in hopes the Xtransciver would pick up his voice.

"That's good to hear," Curtis said. "The other evening, Rosa was so upset and worried about you that it got me worried about you both."

"Oh, I didn't mean to get you that worried," Rosa said, turning a little pink. "But thanks for listening to me then; I was pretty upset."

"After what happened, most anybody would be worried," Nate said.

"Yeah, especially happening to a good friend," Curtis said. "I'm glad I could help. I was thinking about calling earlier, but I've been tied up with work. Especially when the secretary got after me for messing up some paperwork."

Rosa rolled her eyes. "You're always tied up with work, it seems. Hey, are you the CEO of the Battle Company? Because that would be a really busy position."

Curtis laughed, but not with much energy. "No, not that. I don't have that much power with, uh, my group."

There was something odd about that. Nate thought over past calls of Curtis' that he'd overheard. "You said you weren't old enough to buy alcohol yet, right?"

"Yeah, what about it? I've been keeping away from that scene as much as I can; I don't think those guys were really my friends."

Nate tapped his fork on the plate. "That's good for you. But if you're not old enough to drink, then you're not old enough to be working as many hours as you seem to be. What's up with that?"

"Huh?" Rosa asked, then realization dawned on her. "Yeah! What is going on? Is it a really exclusive academy that makes you work really hard?"

"Not that either," Curtis said. "It's kind of complicated, since much of it is not technically work but the company's having me do anyhow, and practice, and I have to keep up my schooling with all of it and..." he yawned loudly. "Oh, sorry. It's been..." he sighed.

"Sounds like you really need a good long sleep," Rosa said. "How about you do that and we can talk more later?"

"Sounds good to me. I just had to check up on you and Nate. I'll talk to you later. Bye Rosa, Nate."

"Bye Curtis," Rosa said, then waited for Nate to say the same before shutting off the call. "I wonder what it is that he does. He won't say directly. Mostly, I'm joking when I guess what he does, but it'd be nice to know."

He considered it himself before saying, "I wasn't sure how well we could trust the guy at first. But from what it sounds like, it seems like he could use a good friend around, even if it's just somebody he's talking to over the phone."

Rosa shrugged. "I guess. I just have fun talking to him, even when he gets pulled out of the conversation with little warning. If he needs someone to talk to, then that's better. I just hope I can meet him in person some time soon."

* * *

June 3

Castelia City, Gym

After spending a few hours training in the dojo, Nate decided to check into the city's Gym. The Gym had a colorful face, but it blended in with the buildings around it. Before he could enter, though, Nate had to stop for an argument between a harlequin and a man being shoved onto the street. "Nope-nope, we can take a joke, but what you're up to is not funny at all."

The man, wearing a loud green and yellow plaid jacket (and matching pants and beret, of all things), got up indignantly and brushed dirt off his clothes. "Fine, but I still need to talk with Burgh. When is he getting back in?"

Putting a hand on his cheek with an exaggerated thoughtfulness, the harlequin hummed and hawed for a full minute before shaking his head. "Nope, not telling. You've been much too rude, trying to poke around our offices like that. Now don't try coming in again; I'll be keeping a Vullaby's eye on you." Then the harlequin turned to him with a brightened expression. "Oh, hello there! Did you have business at our Gym?"

He nodded. "Yes, but did I hear you say that the Leader is out?"

"Mm, yes, but," he glared at the plaid man. "Ahem."

"I'm going to file a complaint about this," he said, then stormed off.

The harlequin waved after him, then waggled his fingers at him when his back was turned. Then he was all smiles for Nate. "Sorry about that chump, but he's been a pestilence for days. Keeps saying that he wants to speak with Burgh, but then slithers away before they can meet."

"What would he be after?" Nate asked.

"Who knows?" the harlequin asked, shrugging. "But I suppose you wouldn't entirely care, since it wouldn't trouble you any. Burgh is off this afternoon, so he's not accepting any challenges at this time. He does this once a week to focus on training his Pokemon outside the Gym. But, you could reserve a time slot to challenge him tomorrow, or, come in today and challenge those of us who work with him." The harlequin then gave a low bow. "We're all good in our own right, following Burgh's training philosophy and style. And Pokemon, of course."

Nate nodded and smiled. "That's what I was hoping for, some good opponents to try."

"Then you shouldn't be disappointed," he said, giving him a wink.

* * *

Lostlorn Forest

According to Zane, this place was inhabited by another Zoroark. At least one. N wouldn't be surprised if there were a few others around, given how many illusions were in this place. With his abilities as a gijinka, he was able to see both the illusions and the real things. There were trees that weren't really there, roots that were hidden so they could trip trespassers, paths that were made to all look the same, distortions in crossroads to ensure that most visitors would avoid particular ways, and even a false stream. He could find his way around and talk to the Pokemon. But few of them knew what was going on with Kyurem; they had not felt his power nearby, nor had they even had the slightest idea that something wasn't right.

Whatever had been done, it had been done quietly. Perhaps a more secluded place than this. Hopefully the others were able to come up with with better leads. N didn't have access to his future visions anymore, so that potential was out; a number of his innate powers had been cut off to take out a truly dangerous ability. Someone had to come up with something. This situation kept him from sleeping well at night.

Mostly worried about Hilda, if he was to admit his thoughts. When her calls stopped coming early last summer, he had spent many weeks worrying if he'd said something to offend her or make her dislike him. He tried to tell himself not to worry about it, but there were times that he got lost in thoughts or concerns of her. Now to know that she had been missing all along, it was hard to think of anything besides finding her. Why didn't he think to come back to Unova sooner?

A strange screech reached his ears. N looked around and noted that he'd come back to the meadow near Nimbasa without thinking about it. Ahead of him and Zane, there was a familiar man in brightly colored clothing, including a brown scarf with rainbow fringe. Near him was a strange Pokemon, apparently a Bug type with sleek violet body armor. However, she was nearly as tall as her Trainer. N recalled hearing of this Pokemon from his brother; she would be Genesect. And the man directing her in a battle against a Whirlipede was Burgh.

Zane seemed interested, so they paused to watch the battle. It didn't last long; Burgh got the Whirlipede revived and let it roll away back to its own life. Afterwards, he looked around and noticed them at the edge of the trees. "Oh, wait there," Burgh said, pointing towards them. "It's you N, isn't it?"

N felt an impulse to flee. But, it was just one person. "Yes, it is," he said, coming into the opening. "It's been a long time, Burgh."

Fortunately, he smiled, coming over to shake his hand. "Great to see you again! You're still one of my more memorable opponents. I've been trying to keep your words in mind, and many of my lovely bugs seem to be more responsive. I hope you've been able to do well for yourself. Now who's the charming Pokemon with you?"

"This is my friend Zane," N said, glancing to him. "Zane, this is one of the Gym Leaders I faced before adding you to my team, Burgh."

The Zoroark dropped down on all fours and crept behind N. "He's the one with the Bugs, isn't he?"

"That's right," N said, clasping his tail for a moment to try reassuring him. Then he turned back to Burgh. "Is this Genesect with you? I've heard of her."

"Is I," Genesect said. Like other ancient Pokemon revived from fossils, she wasn't well-spoken. But she was downright eloquent compared to other revived fossil Pokemon he'd met. "Follow swarm leader. Hello to swarm leader friend."

"Yes, this is our mysterious lady," Burgh said, nodding. "Clay originally had her, but it was decided that I should attempt taming and training her. It's worked out pretty well; I had to be particularly strict with her at first, but now that she's obedient, I don't have any trouble with her. I've even been able to trust Genesect around strangers for short periods of time, although I won't be using her in the Gym at any time."

"How is she?" N asked, recalling stories that she'd blown a hole straight through Kyurem's hide and had been held captive in a cave system for many years.

"You might be able to find out better than I in conversing with her," he said. Then Burgh looked at Genesect, causing her to look back to see if he wanted anything of her. "Many Bug Pokemon start out primitive compared to other Pokemon, not thinking of anything more than survival and best left unprovoked. They can become more emotional after being with a Trainer long enough. As for Genesect, she has been much the same way, just a little more dangerous. At first, she was hostile, territorial without having any territory. Once she came to trust me, her hostility lightened up although she still gets defensive if something she considers hers is bothered. I prefer to train her outside and keep strict on her. She seems to respond to that better."

"Do you mind that, Genesect, being trained strictly?" N asked.

Genesect studied him curiously for a moment. Then she said, "He swarm leader, strong swarm leader of much thought. Good for survival of all. I am his, my duty to defend him always. Sometimes, he of strange thought. But with much thought, strange must be good. I follow him and solve strange thought, then I strong swarm leader later."

"You've certainly earned her respect," N told Burgh, impressed. When Hilbert had described his encounters with her, Genesect had seem to be feral and violent. "She sees you as a swarm leader, which makes sense, and she's trying to learn from you. Although she thinks some of your ways are strange."

"Is that so?" Burgh asked, tapping his foot. "That is one of the best ways to lead a Bug Pokemon team, to get them to recognize you as a swarm leader. Many of their social behaviors are based on the swarm, so it will feel most natural to them." Then he chuckled. "I wonder if she sees my art as the strange ways. She doesn't see color, as her eyes interpret light shifts best. My paintings don't make sense to her, but I can work on them for long periods of time."

"She might still like to learn that, at least to solve what it is."

"She might be able to understand sculpture, although I'm not sure how much significance she'd put into a still object," Burgh said. "It could be an interesting thing to try. According to the labs, she does have a keen sense of smell. I wonder... well, I'll figure that out later. Did you have a reason to return to Unova?"

N considered what to say. He'd really only spoken to Burgh once, but he knew that the Pokemon League as a whole could be a great ally. "It was partly so that Zekrom and Reshiram could return. But once we got back, we ran into something troubling. We can't seem to locate Kyurem, and we heard that Hilda's been missing too. For now, we've split up to try finding more information. Do you know anything about that?"

"Them?" Burgh paced a few steps, thinking. "I had thought it was strange that we heard nothing about them in the past year, especially Hilda. I remember, back last summer... I think it was mid-June, but there was talk that there would be a rematch battle between Hilda and Cynthia at Undella. Cynthia's a highly respected Trainer, was the Champion of another region a few years back. Back when Hilbert had been crowned, the two of them had a Pokemon battle. I heard Cynthia had been seen that June, but not Hilda. I don't know if that really helps, but that's the last I heard about her."

"That matches the timeline we know," N said. "We think she disappeared in early June. It really isn't like her to cut everyone off and be gone so long. We're hoping for the best, but then..." There was a chance that she was dead that really worried him. But he didn't want to give up on finding her alive.

"I hope you can find her," Burgh said. "And you can't find Kyurem either?"

He nodded. "With this going on, and how they lost Keldeo previously, I think that the legendary Pokemon are still adapting to modern society. I know that I have difficulty with that. Still, this can't be right and we need to find both of them as quickly as we can."

"The area would have changed a lot from their point of view," he said. "Look, I'll pass the word around that Hilbert is looking for Kyurem and Hilda. If you've got a lot of humans and Pokemon keeping an eye out, surely someone will notice something. That is, unless you want others to know that you're around; if you'd rather keep to the background for now, I understand completely."

Maybe they had only met once before, but N felt like Burgh really did understand. He'd thought about finding out what happened to the other Sages and members of Team Plasma. However, he wasn't sure if he was ready to face them yet. Or anyone, save Hilda. "That'd be great, if you wouldn't say anything about me but kept us informed of anything. Thank you."

* * *

Castelia City, Central Plaza

"I think I'm going to challenge Burgh tomorrow, if he's in," Nate said, sitting on a bench in Central Plaza while they rested. The sky overhead was dark, but the streetlights were bright enough that a few people were having Pokemon battles still.

"Oh, are you ready for that already?" Rosa asked, sounding impressed.

He nodded. "I took my Pokemon in today to battle the Trainers who work there, but Burgh himself was out for most of the day. Obviously Ruby can handle any of the Bugs in there, but the other two did well too. Then I'd have Nimbasa Gym to prepare for. But that depends on when you're ready to move on too."

"Um, well," she shifted nervously, "I don't know about taking on Burgh yet. I mean, I happened to fight one of the Trainers in the public dojo the other day, and he had two Swadloons that wreaked my team. Once Grim was out, there wasn't a lot we could do."

"You had a lot of Water types, didn't you?" he asked. "You might be able to train them easier around Route 4, between here and Nimbasa. From what I've heard, it's a desert area and they should be effective around there."

"That might work," Rosa said, although she didn't seem enthusiastic about it. That changed when she changed subject. "My mom's going to be here tomorrow, but if you still want to try, I don't think she'd mind. Oh, and I checked with the Pokestar studios earlier today. They want me to be in a movie about a princess, so I might go over there in Virbank for a couple of days for filming. But they really want to see you back too, so we can do more with that Riolu Girl serial."

Nate frowned. "Would they actually pay us this time? It is still work."

"Yeah, they'll do that," she said. "And they should be sending us payment for that first part soon, as a percentage of the film's income."

"That's good, although I still think they're on the shady side."

"Aw, please let's do this again?" Rosa pleaded, giving him cute wide eyes. "And wasn't part of what Hilda told you to do was to make your name well-known? Finishing that serial would be perfect for that!"

"I'll think about it." He looked up as a movement of loud yellow caught his eyes. It led to a familiar man, or rather, a familiar plaid outfit. Wasn't that the guy who had been tossed out of the Gym earlier? The guy was pacing around, seeming anxious. As Nate wondered what his problem was, he had a feeling like someone was trying to call out to anyone who could hear.

…

His heart pounded as he listened to the soft jingling footsteps of the harlequin. Previously, he'd thought people who were afraid of clowns were wimps. But maybe they had a point. The harlequins had caught him before and their mix of joking and scolding was unsettling.

Biting his tongue, he kept waiting as the sound walked away. He should have gotten someone else to do this. If he got caught this time, they might accurately guess what was going on. Or maybe if he just changed outfits. Anything but come right back a few hours later... but then, they were counting on him. Especially Bronius. The Sage had been worried the past few days and wanted this part of their mission done.

Once the danger of discovery seemed to be over, he crawled out from behind the couch in Burgh's office and stood up. It was mostly dim with dusk, with light from the street coming in through the window. He had to be calm. Now, where was it? The Gym Leader had come back, but he was on the upper levels taking on a challenger. So it had to be here. There was something about it being almost obvious, a glass buoy.

There it was. On the wall, there was an old style of buoy which was a group of colored glass orbs resting in a thick knotted up rope. And in a spot where there should be a smaller orb, there was a Pokeball instead. He plucked it out of the ropes and checked the status screen. Genesect. This was it. After slipping the Pokeball into an inside pocket of his jacket, he headed to the door and glanced around. There was no one in the hallway. He hurried out, his objective obtained. But the mission wouldn't be a success until he could bring Genesect back to Team Plasma. Which wouldn't be easy, as they had told him that the original meeting spot couldn't be used. He'd have to be on his guard.

…

Rosa was tugging at him. "Hey, Nate?" she asked quietly.

His head was clear this time as he stood up looking at the man. "That guy, he's with Team Plasma and he just stole some Pokemon from Burgh."

"Seriously?" she hissed, getting up too. The guy hadn't noticed them yet, in part thanks to the noise of a nearby battle. "He doesn't look like it."

"I saw it. I know he is," Nate said. "If we..."

But Rosa had already brought out the sword she had. The only heed she was paying to her injured arm was to not use it. "Well we won't let him get away with it," she said angrily. She ran over to him.

Nate grimaced, but he waved over to the man. "Argent, get over on his other side in case he runs. You too River, Bard." He hung back while the three Pokemon hurried to back her up, hoping this wouldn't become a mistake in telling her.

"Hold it!" Rosa yelled, bringing her sword up to the guy but thankfully not hitting him with it. "You're a Pokemon thief!"

Jumping in the air and turning frantically, the Plasma thief had to grab his beret before he lost it. People around the plaza were starting to look at them. "Aaah, did you follow me fr-from the Gym?" he asked, staring more at the sword than the girl holding it. "You're with those harlequins, aren't you? I'm just following orders."

"But you stole the Pokemon, didn't you?" she asked with a scowl.

"Ye-ye-ye..." he turned pale and fainted; four Pokeballs fell out of his jacket and rolled across the pavement.

Rosa lowered her sword, surprised. "Um... I didn't think you were supposed to faint." A few people laughed or whistled, not thinking that this would be anything serious.

Picking up one of the rolling Pokeballs, Nate came over. "This is... a Pokemon from the Gym, it's got the tag in its status section." But it wasn't the one he had been thinking of. "We'd better call them. Make sure that he doesn't get up."

"Right!"

As it turned out, the Gym knew it was missing a few Pokemon. But not that they were missing Genesect. On searching the man, they found a fifth Pokeball that belonged to her. Burgh came himself with a couple of his harlequin Trainers to come pick them up. "Thank you so much for locating him before he got too far," the leader said while he used a scanner to check on all of the Pokemon. "They're all precious to us, but it could have been a huge problem if he'd gotten away with Genesect. I don't even want to think about it."

"Why Genesect in particular?" Rosa asked.

"She's genetically modified in order to be as powerful as the immortal Pokemon," Burgh said. "Maybe even immortal herself; it's much too soon to know for certain. I've spent a year and a half to earn her trust and teach her obedience so that she won't be trouble. But to someone as bold enough to steal Pokemon, she could be a potent weapon against everyone."

"If they're targeting her, then you should be more careful about her," Nate said.

He nodded. "Certainly. I was counting some secrecy, but that doesn't seem to be enough now. How did you two manage to catch him?"

"He was really nervous, but Nate saw something more about it," Rosa said, looking to him.

"I can view the memories of others," Nate said. "It was luck or divine guidance this time, since it doesn't happen all that often and I can't make it happen."

"Then we should thank the gods for their help," Burgh said, looking thoughtful. "Although it makes me wonder which one is influencing you. I don't think Genesect is capable of it, but perhaps she is."

"Maybe she triggered it because she knew something was wrong," he said, recalling the odd feeling he had right before the memory. "I hadn't heard of her before this evening, though. I'm glad it happened this time."

"We're all very glad about this result," Burgh agreed.


	19. Swarms of Questions

June 4

hotel, Castelia

When he got up that morning, Nate found Patience sitting on a t-shirt that he knew belonged to Rosa. At least it was just the t-shirt. "Would you take that back, please?" he asked the Eevee. "Before we both get into trouble."

Patience whimpered, lowering her ears. But she did pick up the shirt in her mouth and take it back to the other half of the suite. The door must not have been well latched last night, since she was able to simply push it aside, then reach up and pull the knob back to mostly close it. This time, she had a shoe.

She had messed with his clothes some, he recalled. Nate didn't mind that, but he didn't want her stealing other people's clothing. Even if it was a shoe this time; it was interesting that she managed to carry that around. "No, that's not what I meant," he said. "Put the shoe back."

"Aaoo," she whimpered again, starting to go into her crouch and shiver state.

"You can't wimp out all the time," Nate said, trying to scold without being too harsh about it. "Put her shoe back. I don't want you stealing things like this."

Thankfully, she did break out of that quickly, half-running to get the shoe back to the other room. Nate worked on getting himself dressed. When Patience seemed to be taking longer than necessary, he thought about trying to call her without waking Rosa up. Then he heard a half-awake, "Hey!" from the other room. "Nate, Patience is trying to make a bed out of my stockings."

"Sorry," he said, going to the door between their suites. Patience ran in and dashed under the bed. While the frame went to the floor, she could hide behind the blanket. "The door didn't get latched securely. I hope she didn't disturb you too much."

"Eh, I should be getting up too," Rosa replied.

Since that seemed to be taken care of, he shut the door. "Patience, I don't want you stealing things," he said. "By your old name, I'm guessing someone taught you to do that. But that person taught you improperly, okay? There will be other things you're good at."

She crept into view at that, but continued to act sulky for the rest of the morning.

* * *

Janice had met them at the docks, hugging both of them and asking lots of questions. When they told her that Nate wanted to challenge the Gym Leader, she happily said that she wanted to see it. "Well this place has changed drastically since I was last in here," she said as they entered the main part of the Castelia Gym.

"Was it this weird?" Nate asked, fiddling with his wallet after getting his card and team scanned.

Janice thought about it, then waved her hand in a neutral way. "Kind of. Burgh's always had, well, interesting ideas of what a Gym should be like."

"It's kinda creepy, like you wandered into someone's obsession," Rosa said, looking around with wary interest.

She knew that Burgh was an artist, so she had expected his Gym to look all bright and colorful. It had in the recorded battles she had seen. But this... it was entirely white. Some gray areas were in the shadows, but none too dark. The floor was soft and a little springy. All of this was because every surface was covered in white silk ropes, like the threads of a silkworm's cocoon. The walkways above were patterned like spiderwebs. Scattered around the various floors of the Gym, there were large structures that looked like cocoons, tied together with silken tubes which seemed to be the only way to get to the Leader's area higher up.

Nate pointed to one of the cocoons. "It may look weird, but the passage system here is actually pretty nice. I've been in here before, so I know which way to go to get to the top."

"Are you going to challenge the Leader too, either of you two lovely ladies?" the harlequin said.

"I'm not eligible, thanks," Janice said, shaking her head.

"I don't know," Rosa said. "But, um, I'll guess I'll register, just in case." That took another minute to get that done, but it was nice to have the option.

Despite what Nate thought, Rosa felt that the transport system was just as weird. When they stepped into the cocoons, one by one, there would be four silk cords hanging from the tube. She took a hold of one and then they all came to life, wrapping around her arms and waist. Once secured, they pulled her up through the narrow tubes to reach the cocoon on the other side. It didn't hurt and was actually kind of soft, like being transported by blankets. But it didn't change that they grabbed hold of her all on their own and traveled through a rather small enclosed space.

At the top, they found themselves in a large domed room similarly coated in the silk ropes. The ropes dangled in a way that was artistic, yet still rather like cobwebs. In the center, there was a large circle which was topped with glass, protecting a rainbow swirl of light that projected into the room and gave it an ethereal atmosphere. Burgh was standing on the colored part, talking with a young Trainer and the kid's parents. Also in the room was a man that Rosa thought she'd seen before, but couldn't place him. He had blond hair and wore a flared white coat; at his side, a Elgyem floated at shoulder height and observed what was going on. But even more odd, the man had wires coming from his eyeglasses and going somewhere under his hair.

"It seems like I have a lot of guests today," Burgh said, smiling as he noticed their group coming in. Then he looked back to the other family. "Well it's wonderful to see a family so supportive of each other. I'm sorry we have to cut things off, but I do have another scheduled match. You may head back to the lobby through the cocoon back there, or stay a while if you want to watch other battles."

"What do you want to do?" the man asked his son.

Meanwhile, Burgh turned his attention to them. "Well isn't this a surprise? I wasn't expecting to see you two heroes so soon. You must be Nate, then. It's good to properly meet you; my Trainers were talking a lot about you this morning."

He nodded and shook the Leader's hand. "Yes, that's me. Good to meet you again, Burgh."

"Yes, both of you. Were you here to challenge me too?" He was looking her way now.

Rosa turned a little pink. "Oh, uh, I dunno. Maybe. I'm Rosa, by the way. And this is my mother here, Janice, she came to visit us."

Despite the oddness, he seemed warm and friendly, shaking hands with both of them. "It's up to you, but don't be afraid to have faith in your Pokemon. As I was saying to the others, it's good to see family members in here too, m'am. I hope you're enjoying Castelia City, if it isn't your home."

"It seems like a long time since I've been in a busy city like this," Janice said, shaking his hand. "It's worth it to see these two in action."

Rosa had faith in her Pokemon, but... she searched for the words for a moment, then decided to change the subject. "Oh, and this place looks a lot different that I thought it would. Whenever you have a match on TV, it's always on a really pretty wooden stage, not this place."

He laughed at that. "Not this place, you think? Maybe it isn't, but maybe it is." He waved his hand to the silk walls. "I am devoted to my art as much as I am my Pokemon, and the idea I've always had in making this place my own is to imitate the life and images of my buzzingly beautiful Bug Pokemon. A while ago, I found myself wondering what life was like for them within a cocoon. It is a cycle of rebirth and change that is similar for the little bugs and for the Pokemon bugs. And the cocoon is one of the great symbols of change... well, I'll show you." He clapped his hands. "Okay, everyone in here, please decide if you're leaving or staying now. If you're staying, join me in this circle to see something wondrous."

The three of them were already on the rainbow circle to talk with Burgh. The other family decided to stay to see what would happen, which only left the odd man and his Elygem to the side. They came forward to join them on the circle. Once there, the scientist gave a smile to Rosa. "Ah, it is you, from the other days in the sewers. Did you find your friend?"

The sewers? It took a moment, but then she remembered that he had been the one who ended up directing her into the old tunnels. Rosa nodded. "Yeah, I did. Thanks for helping me then."

He bowed his head. "No problem, young lady."

"Oh yes, Colress here is doing some studies into Pokemon training itself," Burgh said, nodding to him. "He's doing observations today, but it could be worth the time to answer his questions."

"If you want," Colress said.

Burgh then grinned and took hold of his watch. "And now, let's watch the show!"

At a signal from the watch, the floor began to tremble lightly. Then, a single clean split appeared across the whole dome room. Both sides then rotated upwards, leaving the rainbow circle to sit still. Rosa watched in amazement as the two halves of the rooms turned to reveal small seating areas as well as the familiar painted Beautifly design on the floor. It took a little over a minute for the transformation to be complete. As the floor locked into place, Colress' Elgyem whistled in delight.

"That was incredible," Rosa said, grinning.

"Thanks; I adore the way the system works now," Burgh said with pride. "It's too bad that I don't get to show it off as often as I'd like. But enough with my showing off. It's time for you to attempt showing off the magnificence of your Pokemon, isn't it Nate?"

"I'll certainly do that," Nate said, smiling.

Taking that as a signal to clear the area, the family headed on to the cocoon passage (which now seemed to be a tall stump covered in mushrooms), while the remaining visitors headed to the seating area to Nate's left. There was plenty of space, so Rosa released her Pokemon to join the audience. Although Colress obviously had a few other Pokemon in his holder, he didn't keep any out other than his Elgyem.

Rosa quickly hugged Bard as he leaned close to the wall separating the seating from the battle area. "Hey, be nice and stay back here. It's time for Nate's team to take on the Leader, so we'll cheer them on."

"Deoo!" the Dewott exclaimed, then stood in the seat by her and began waving his paws. Janice laughed and waved her arms like Bard was. Medusa soon joined in, smiling and having fun as she twirled around. Hopping onto the partition wall, River watched from there more studiously. On the other hand, Grim began grooming his feathers.

"You certainly have energetic Pokemon," Colress said to her.

Rosa laughed a little. "Yeah, they're lots of fun to have around."

"Actually, I was hoping to run into you again," he said, pulling what looked like a tablet computer out from his bag. "You heard what Burgh said: I'm running a study on how people train Pokemon. I've been at the observations for a few months now, but I'm already picking up some patterns. You would seem to be in a Trainer group that, quite frankly, I have few subjects for."

She tilted her head at him. "Really? I only started this spring, and I don't think I was doing anything special. I just like being with my Pokemon."

"Would you mind assisting me? It's really quite simple. I just need to ask you some questions now, then get permission to track your team's progress, preferably through the League. I'll have follow-up surveys to keep things up to date too."

"Okay, I don't see why not," she told him. He seemed to be a scientist of some kind. Maybe his study would be going to improve things.

"Thank you," Colress said, taking the tablet's stylus from its slot. "Now, your name was Rosa, right?"

She nodded. "Rosa Wilburs."

"How many badges do you have?"

"Two of them," she said, swinging her feet.

The scientist raised an eyebrow. "Really? That seems to be good for having only started this spring."

"I don't think so," Rosa said, getting embarrassed and looking over to Nate's battle. "I mean, Nate's really good. I'm sure he'll win today. Still, we're not as good as Hilda was."

"Speed of a team's progress doesn't tell everything about how good the Trainer is," Colress pointed out. "But don't be afraid to turn down a compliment."

She laughed nervously. "I guess I shouldn't."

They continued talking as Nate's battle with Burgh continued. Rosa looked to see how he was doing at times. While he'd brought Patience out first, only a couple of rounds passed before he pulled her back and brought out Ruby instead. The Swadloon Burgh had was a little faster than Ruby, but once the Pignite attacked, she took it out quickly. Burgh next had a Dwebble which managed to withstand Ruby's next attack. For a second, Nate seemed to be considering switching, but stuck with Ruby while Burgh started to heal up his Dwebble.

"Anyhow..." after a number of questions, Colress checked his tablet and nodded. "It does look like you'll be a good fit into my long-term study, Rosa. If you don't mind, I'd like to give you a battle and training journal for you to keep track of what you do with your Pokemon and how they perform. Keep in mind that it's for a scientific survey and anything you write could be used."

"I wouldn't mind that," Rosa said. "Um, so what do I do?"

He searched in his bag, coming up with a PIN drive for her to use. "Just treat and train them like you are now, that will do. Although, if you are looking for ways to improve their odds, you might consider trying some battle accessories. There's a lot of options, by looking through stores or foraging... hmmm..." He checked his bag, then pulled out a small pale blue stone for her. "Here, like this. Take it."

"Are you sure?" Rosa asked.

"Go ahead," Colress said, giving her the stone. "You're volunteering for my study, and I'd like to return some help to my participants. This is a Flying Gem. It's a fragile thing and will likely turn to dust when used. However, it will immensely power up a Flying type move once. Won't do anything for a Pokemon that doesn't know such a move. It can be handy if you know ahead that that would take out a troublesome opponent."

"Sure, thank you."

Their discussion then came to an end as the battle between Burgh and Nate also ended. "My, the passion of your Pokemon burns brightly today," the Leader said.

Ruby the Pignite snorted in laughter. Nate shifted his visor. "I'd say the spirit more than the passion," he said.

At that, Rosa hopped up and put her hands on the divider wall. "Aw, do you have to be nitpicky about the jokes even?" she then laughed.

"No matter," Burgh said, still smiling. He bowed to Nate. "It was a brilliant show. Your Pokemon are strong and I can tell that you guide them well, even with as little experience as you have. In honor of your team's victory, I give you the Insect Badge."

"Thank you, sir," Nate said, accepting it.

"No need to 'sir' me," Burgh said. Then, he looked over at the seats they were in. "So then, young lady, did you want to give it a try? I don't have anyone else scheduled for a while, and," he pulled out a phone, checking something. "Looks like there isn't anyone trying to get up here. What do you say?"

"Um..." she turned around and looked at Bard. The Dewott and her Frillish both encouraged her to go ahead; they were willing to go. River nodded too, still watching the battle area. After recalling those three Pokemon, she came out of the seating area. "A-all right. We're gonna try. Come on Grim."

"Give me a minute to get my team ready, and we'll challenge you as well," Burgh said, heading off the rainbow circle to take care of his Pokemon.

* * *

Nate spoke briefly to Rosa, patting her shoulder. Then he and Ruby came over to the seats where Janice and that scientist were. "Experts like him must be able to tell a lot from a little," he said while sitting down. "There really wasn't much challenge once I brought Ruby out to use Flame Charge."

Ruby snorted in agreement.

"Why didn't you just start with that then?" Janice asked. "I saw you with Patience at first."

"Because there are Bug Pokemon that could counter a Fire Pokemon," Nate explained as he brought Patience back out, along with Argent. "Fortunately, he didn't have one. Patience can also use the experience, so hopefully she builds some courage."

"So you started out as a Trainer at the same time as Rosa?" Colress asked, shifting some things on his tablet computer.

"Yes," Nate said, feeling wary. He hadn't paid much attention to the blond man until that question, but now that he looked at him, he felt oddly familiar. If they had met before, that was a memory he didn't have access to. "Do I... do you recognize me? Because I feel like I've seen you somewhere before."

Colress raised an eyebrow. "Do you? Quite frankly, it would be quite a coincidence if you recognize me. There are few outside of the scientific community that would know me on sight. I have been meeting with a lot of people in the past year, so it may have been a brief meeting."

"Science?" Nate rubbed his forehead. "I'm more interested in philosophy and religion."

"Are you all right?" Janice asked, putting her hand on his shoulder.

Triste cooed, making colored lights appear at his fingertips. The Elgyem drifted closer to Nate, apparently curious about this. Nodding to the Pokemon, Nate put his hands down. "Yeah, I think it'll pass."

"You might take your medicine just in case," Janice suggested, but she was soon watching as Rosa was getting ready to battle Burgh.

Nate looked at Colress, but nothing more seemed to happen. "Sorry sir, I, well, have memory issues."

"I wouldn't hold that against you," Colress said. "But if you wouldn't mind a distraction from that..."

He actually smiled at that. "Sure, why not? Might actually help."

The scientist chuckled softly. "Perhaps. As I was speaking of with your friend, I'm doing a study of Pokemon Trainers and their training methods. Do you mind if I interview you as a possible volunteer for it? Rosa has already agreed to help."

"Sure, that would be fine," Nate said. Scientists would be looking for information, and their studies often helped many people.

* * *

Rosa had an idea of what might work, although she was still nervous. In a way, she had to trust what Colress had said. Talking with him had made it harder to watch Nate's battle, but she had a good idea of what she was facing: a Swadloon, a Dwebble and a Leavanny. From that, sticking with Grim was probably her best bet.

Then Burgh stepped back onto the rainbow circle. "Are you ready for a bug-tacular fight?" he asked. "Declare your Pokemon. I have three."

"I have five," she said, her heart pounding in her chest. A voice in her head wondered if this was a mistake and she'd end up embarrassing herself in front of the others, even with an advantage in numbers. But, she was going to try, at least to show that she was willing to try keeping up with Nate. "We're ready." I hope, she mentally added.

"Okay, then," he brought a hand up, holding out a Pokeball dramatically for a moment before pressing its button to release, "We begin!" He released a small Dwebble.

"Go Grim!" she called, bringing her Ducklett back out. Bugs were weak to Flying, she recalled. And this Dwebble was part Rock, which made it weak to Water too. The Leavanny with its Grass moves would be the troublesome one. "Use Bubblebeam on it."

Grim came out on the ground, as usual. He bopped his head up and down before spitting out a torrent of bubbles at the Dwebble. While it shuddered under the hit, it followed through on its own orders and summoned up a rock to hurl at the Ducklett. Grim squawked in surprise as the blow knocked him over. For a moment, Rosa worried about the match being practically lost already.

But Grim wasn't knocked out; he managed to hop back onto his webbed feet. "Do that again," Rosa said, hoping. The second attack did knock the Dwebble out, so she didn't have to worry about another rock attack.

However, Burgh didn't seem flustered. With another dramatic flourish, he released the Leavanny. It twirled around and put one of its narrow green arms to its lips before waving to Grim in confidence. Rosa had originally mistaken a Sewaddle for just a Bug type, but she wouldn't be doing that with a Leavanny. Its limbs were like curled up grass, dancing and mocking them in a way grass shouldn't. It made a shiver go up her spine.

But her plan should work. "Grim, Aerial Ace!" she called, hoping that it would be enough to take out the creepy Pokemon.

Grim raised his wings up, but didn't hop up as much as he usually did when using this move. When he slashed his wings down, there was a brief blue flash as the Flying gem released its power. Blades of air struck the Leavanny hard enough to throw it onto its back before it was recalled due to unconsciousness. Seeing that, Grim raised his right wing in surprise. "Qwa?"

"Great job!" Rosa said, feeling proud that they had managed to take out the Leavanny. But there would be one more.

And Burgh still didn't look worried as he released a Swadloon. Rosa had Grim use Aerial Ace again, but without the gem boost, it didn't finish the fight. Instead, the Swadloon managed to throw grass blades at Grim and knock him out. Thinking another hit might knock it out, she called out Medusa to strike it with one of her Ghost moves. However, Burgh healed his Swadloon up before having it strike back.

It went back and forth for a while. Medusa could handle a lot of hits, even taking strong hits, but the Swadloon kept protecting itself from hits between hitting hard with grass blades. Eventually, the Frillish was knocked out. Rosa called out Bard and had to think quickly about non-Water moves he had. She had him use Fury Swipes, where he slashed at the Swadloon with his scallop shells. Surprisingly, that worked, knocking the Swadloon out after just a single hit. It must have been at low health and Burgh out of potions.

For a moment, Rosa felt a sense of disbelief. Then relief, then happiness as Bard ran back to her for a hug. "Eee, we won!" she squealed, picking him up briefly.

"Hah, that was thrilling," Burgh said. "Your charming Pokemon pulled through despite trouble."

And so she had earned the Insect Badge as well.

* * *

After the battles, they decided to go to a different restaurant than usual for lunch. Rosa was excited all the way over there, much more so than Nate was. But then his team (mostly Ruby) had a great chance of winning, while Rosa's team faced a much tougher challenge despite being against the same Pokemon. For a while, she'd been worried that she wasn't as good of a Trainer because of the trouble she had at in battles. This proved that her team could be great too.

Although she could still learn some things from Nate. He had explained some things over lunch, such as the move the Dwebble had used: Smack Down, which handicapped a Flying Pokemon's ability to fly for a short time, thus weakening those moves. And then Fury Swipes had been the right move to pick, since it was Bug type and as a part Grass type, Leavanny and Swadloon were actually weak to the move. How had he memorized information on all those moves and Pokemon? Did his video game statistics really mean anything?

"It seems like you two are thriving out on the road," Janice said, smiling warmly at them. "But, I still need to talk with you about what I came here for."

"What's that?" Nate asked. "Do you need me to leave?"

"No, it should be okay," Rosa said. "It is, right? It's about the sword I have."

Janice nodded. "You trust him, so it should be fine. We weren't supposed to say anything, but then you told me about how you were able to use the sword and what happened with your injury. That wouldn't happen with anyone else, Rosa. I talked with your father about it and he agreed that it was about time you knew more about when we got that sword, and met Keldeo."

"Then you knew what it could do?" she asked.

"Not exactly," her mother said. "You see, back then... well it still applies, but I wasn't supposed to be able to have children. When I was your age, I had to be treated for cancer; I was lucky that was all that happened as a side-effect. But your father and I were in love and he didn't care if we couldn't have our own children."

"Wow, but I was born anyhow, so that's good," Rosa said.

Janice shook her head. "It's good, but not really that. You're not actually our child. You're Keldeo, reincarnated as a human."

For a moment, Rosa didn't know what to say. Nate found his words before she did. "That makes sense. It would be why Keldeo kept being detected around us."

"How does that make sense?" Rosa asked, taking one of her brown ponytails in hand. "I don't look a thing like Keldeo. And why would he be reborn as a human? The four swords are known to distrust humans. Meloetta even said to 'be nice to him', so why would she mean me?"

"We can't really know at this time because you don't remember it," Nate said. "As for Meloetta, maybe she didn't want you found until you knew for yourself."

"I wasn't sure myself at times," Janice said. "When we spoke with you first, I mean, in your previous life, you were already a spirit. Keldeo said that he had taken on grave damage over a long period of time, to the point where he couldn't trust his own powers to reincarnate properly. He gave us the sword and asked for us to take care of him. Once we agreed to it, you were born." She pushed Rosa's hair out of her hand. "It helped us out that you look like you should be our daughter, but sometimes we doubted what we remembered. There didn't seem to be much that pointed you out as not quite human, except maybe your attraction to water and Water Pokemon. But now you know how to use that sword without learning how, and that potion... if you were human, it wouldn't have sped up the healing as fast as it had."

"But I don't remember anything like that," she said, taking out the sword but leaving it tiny. Besides, Keldeo's sword was his horn, so it wouldn't be separate. Unless, maybe if he was in a hornless form, like a human. But it was still too weird.

"You once told me that sometimes you dream of running on water," Nate said. "Keldeo is known for doing that."

"Yeah," she admitted, recalling one of those dreams. She hadn't thought much of it, but, maybe her body was different for those dreams?

"If you're lucky, your memory is only blocked off like mine is," Nate said. "If you know things that should remind you, you can remake those connections yourself. Or one of the legendary Pokemon might be able to do something. Other than yourself, I mean."

"I don't know," Rosa said, feeling uncomfortable. "I've never understood Pokemon either, so I don't really think..." River barked an interruption, giving her a look that should have meant something. At that, she recalled hearing someone during her fight against the ninja woman. Nate had been the only one around and he hadn't been capable of warning her. "Unless I did, that once... I don't know. Can we talk about something else?"

"I've told you what I know about this," Janice said, apparently not sure what else to say. "I have no other explanation for how we went on a weekend vacation thinking we'd never have a child and then coming back with you in a makeshift cradle. Still, even if you are a reincarnated Pokemon, you're also our daughter. Nolan and I will help you out however we can."


	20. Triste's Temptation

June 4

Plasma offices

With Triste following him around as usual, Colress led the way down the hall. Bronius was with them, his expressions changing often between anger and anxiety. "Come now, the answer should be obvious," Colress said. "You are in charge of the Castelia group and so you must assume responsibility for the results of their missions."

Definite slide to anxiety there, with the tremble barely hidden by the large robes he wore. "Yes but... I thought you were doing most of the direct dealings with him now. He had been getting more and more erratic, and then he hasn't called the rest of us to his office for months."

"Careful," Colress said, in a slightly playful warning. "If you think he is erratic, then you need to watch your words. Yes, I have been working with him most as of late. Look at it this way: come in to see him now and he's less likely to become suspicious of you if he moves beyond erratic."

"I'm sure he can do this, but is he really losing it?"

"Is he? That could be the big question." He patted Bronius on the shoulder like one would reassure a worried child. "If you're really worried about that, then just follow my lead. Here we go."

The area that they entered was darker than other areas of their base, with only a few lamps shining small beams at areas of work and study. In the darkness, they could see a patch of white hair. It shifted and they more easily saw one of the Shadow Triad, loyally guarding their master as usual. They seemed more like soulless automatons than anything else, but they were efficient and deadly. But were they more terrifying than their master? It was a close call.

Secluded in here, Ghetsis at first seemed to be a pitiful creature. The cloak he wore now was not as majestic as he once wore, colored an ashen gray and black. His pale green hair seemed to grow thinner by the month. Not looking away from his book, his right hand moved fluidly down the pages but his left hand clumsily tried to adjust the angle of the desk lamp. Unable to get that right, he plopped his left hand on the book to reach over to adjust it with his better hand.

"Ghetsis, I brought Bronius in to help with today's report," Colress said.

"Where have you been?" Ghetsis said.

"In and around Castelia City at my usual work preparing for our empire," he replied, calm and cool.

"Hmph."

Unperturbed by the underwhelming reaction (he expected it), Colress started talking. "Ryoku has been released from prison, but I'm certain he will not be on our side this time around. The main point of interest is that he's been assigned to rehabilitation group at Abundant Shrine rather than with Rood. We're still waiting on more information on Gorm and Giallo before attempting to break them out as well. Elsewhere, the crews around Virbank and Aspertia are back on track; the kids who were messing with them had moved on. Unfortunately, they moved on to Castelia where they've started messing with Bronius' group. They had even gotten a breakthrough lately..."

"We have?" Bronius mouthed silently.

"We have," Colress replied silently as well. Ghetsis had his back to them and his eyes on a book. The Triad might mention it later, but he didn't think it would matter. Then he spoke normally again. "Their main target has been confirmed to be in Burgh's possession. It won't be easy, but they should be able to accomplish it." Then he stealthily added, "I'll give you more details on the next attempt."

Bronius bowed his head in thanks.

However, Ghetsis still didn't speak up. Sometimes he didn't even pay attention except to what the Triad told him later. Colress had figured out it was better to just keep up the report. "We've also gotten word that the PWT should be going ahead as scheduled and if it's what I think it is, there could be a chance..."

"You handle that stuff," Ghetsis grumbled.

Colress gave a small bow, just in case he turned around. "I'll take your advice on that." He glanced aside, then waved at Triste. The Elgyem floated forward, with a look that seemed to be puzzlement. "I also have news that N is back in the region."

"What?!" Ghetsis roared, flinging a small black pyramid back at them. Bronius stepped back in shock, while Triste squealed in alarm and caught the paperweight before it hit Colress.

"Thank you," he said to his Pokemon quietly, plucking the pyramid out of the air.

Finally, the leader of the Sages turned to face them. It was unsettling to see him face to face, especially in this kind of atmosphere. His right eye moved slowly, with that side of his face being stiff. In contrast, the left half of his face was clearly furious. An attack two years ago had caused this partial paralysis, but Ghetsis was defiant about his handicap. He refused to let it be acknowledged.

Having dealt with him often, Colress was able to stay calm as he put the pyramid back. "He was seen around the Nimbasa area with his brother Hilbert. Also, there have been sightings of the two dragons in and around White Forest. They seem to be aware that there's an issue with Kyurem, but they are thus far unable to locate him. Since they are back, we will need to take extra caution."

"Right, right, let everyone know," Ghetsis replied, seemingly calming down. But then his anger burst back out as he demanded, "And make sure they know not to listen to or trust that slimy traitor at all. I will deal severely with anyone who does."

He bowed in acknowledgment as he stepped back. "Certainly, I'll send up a message within the hour."

"Good, then get to work," Ghetsis said. Then he looked at Bronius. "And what are you doing here?"

"I was going to have him give more details about the situation in Castelia right now," Colress said, gesturing to Bronius.

He waved them off and turned back to his reading. "Unless we're dealing with deserters, failures, or real obstacles, don't bother me with these daily details. Get to your real work."

"As you wish," he said, nodding to a greatly relieved Bronius before heading out.

Once they were out of the dark refuge, Bronius started to relax and asked, "What is he studying now? I thought we had things all planned out."

"We do," Colress said. "But as you saw, he's only worrying about his issues. I give him research material as he asks for it, and work out the actual details."

"Then who's really in charge? I thought he..."

"Oh, Ghetsis is in charge, no need to question that," Colress said. "I'm the figurehead. But remember, I'm also the one shifting the sails to direct his intellect and power best. Together, we're guiding Plasma far more efficiently than before." He smiled at the Sage. "Now you had best get your team's act back together and complete your mission with the information I have. Otherwise, I can work it so that you face the gale of his true fury."

That did the job nicely, as Bronius' careful respect and apologies proved.

* * *

June 5

Lostlorn Forest

This area was known as Lostlorn Forest, but it varied between small meadows and heavily clustered thickets. There were hiding holes everywhere, obscured by fallen logs or dense foliage. Not only that, but Triste also sensed illusions at work. They had been created by Pokemon, which ones he wasn't sure as he'd never been here before. When drifting along wooded paths, it was difficult to know where one was going due to those illusions.

They were hanging around the largest meadow of Lostlorn, near a small waterfall that came off a tall hill. It wasn't just Triste out either. Colress had other members of the Pokemon team out: a Metang, a Magneton, a Golett, and a quiet Klank. Sometimes, they battled wild Pokemon for training.

Other times, it seemed like Colress wasn't going to let go of his work. He was most interested in a device he had created, two emblems connected by radio waves. They were embedded with glass gemstones he had made from sand collected in various places in Unova, like from Desert Resort. While it might look decorative at first glance, Triste could sense power in the items that wasn't like the normal science devices he'd seen.

"I'm not certain this is enough," Colress said to himself, turning one of the emblems over then looking at a screen. "When it makes contact, it should increase in capacity, but will it be enough? And the desert stone on the transmitter, that flaw is troubling."

"I don't know what it is, but I can try to do something with it," the Elgyem said, causing his fingertips to glow with the words. Speaking aloud was something an underdeveloped member of his kind did. He wanted to be better to help Colress, but that meant getting used to speaking properly, with light rather than sound. He'd been using both for a while.

"Your mental prowess is insufficient," the Metang said. "He is a scientist. I am much better suited to being an assistant due to my computing ability. I do not see why he uses you more often."

Feeling embarrassed, Triste said, "Well, yeah, I can't use numbers as fast as you, but he must have his reasons."

"I will prove that I am better than you to him some day," he replied, clenching a blue fist between them.

"Um, we're on the same team. We shouldn't fight each other."

"Your opinion does not matter to me."

The Magneton laughed at that. "You're both being illogical. He can't understand us, so it doesn't matter how smart you brainiacs are. He needs Pokemon that are powerful, and I'm more powerful than any of you."

"What was that?!" the Metang demanded, turning to the silvery Steel Pokemon. "You are the illogical and ignorant one. He has been putting me through a specialty training routine that makes me the most powerful of our group."

The Magneton glowered at the Metang. "He's been giving me a super-powered diet to maximize my efficiency. So I'm more powerful."

"Please, don't fight," Triste said, trying to use just the light.

"I don't think they'll understand you that way," the Golett said, drifting closer to the Elgyem so that it didn't have to speak too loudly. "I barely caught your projections."

"I need to be able to speak with light to get better," he said with just light. Then he turned to the two squabbling Pokemon and spoke with sound. "I said, please don't fight. We're all here to help Colress, so let's work together. He works very hard and he deserves our cooperation, not problems because of team in-fighting."

"Stuff it, Elgyem," the Magneton said.

"I have a name," he said.

The other three stared at him. Even the Klank, who hadn't spoken up, looked a bit hurt at that. The gear Pokemon whirled away backwards, eventually turning its attention to something else.

Sensing their jealousy, he really started to feel uneasy. "He named me Triste," he said, uncertain if he should say that.

"Whatever makes you that important?!" the Metang demanded, darting over and holding his claws very close to Triste's eyes. "Why do you get a name and we do not?"

For a moment, Triste lost control over his lights, making them sputter in nonsensical words. He did manage to say, "I don't know. I, I spend a lot of time with him. I thought he'd given you names too."

"I would rather you all not hurt each other," Colress said, reprimanding them all. "It might not look good to those who come across us."

"I told you," Triste said, backing away from the Metang and getting closer to Colress. If he stuck by their Trainer, maybe the others were less likely to bully him.

Holding onto his device, Colress looked at Triste briefly. Then he waved to Metang. "All right, you, take this. I want to see what happens when a Pokemon holds it."

"Haha, he trusts me with this more than you," Metang said, snatching the offered emblem. As he did, a change came over him. He became strangely calm and quiet, backing off slowly. Metang brought up the emblem and looked at it with very little expression.

Magneton drifted over and bumped into him. "What's it do?" After getting no response for a few seconds, he added, "Hey, are you listening?"

He didn't reply. Instead, Colress got up and put his Pokemon scanner on Metang. "Brainwaves similar to deep sleep levels, but other signs normal," he said. "And then... hmmm... not quite what I'd like..." Then he put the scanner on Metang's back so he could take the other emblem in hand. "Don't lose that scanner. Now go get me a seeding dandelion; try not to lose the seeds."

"That would be simple except for not losing the scanner," Golett said.

"Not losing seeds might not be easy in this breeze," Triste said. But why had Colress given that task to Metang? It didn't seem like something that required a lot of math.

While they talked, Metang moved away to look. He didn't say anything and his mind didn't seem very active. After a moment, he found an appropriate white puff and plucked it gently from the deep grass. It was full of tiny seeds that swayed with the movements. As he handed it to Colress, not a single seed had been lost.

"Beautiful," Colress said, taking it and the scanner. After another scan, he put it away to take the emblem back. "But not quite enough. It should work better with Kyurem, since he has a stronger connection to the other two. Then again, he would have a stronger will and innate power, so he may resist. I just don't think the glass is going to be enough, even if I replace the defective one... definitely has a crack now. If I could get something directly from the two other dragons, that would be perfect."

"Oooo, that was weird," Metang finally said, lowering his hover and reaching out with his arms as if making sure he was balanced.

"What kind of power does the emblem have?" Triste asked.

"I felt like my mother was watching me," Metang said. "She asked me to get her a seeding dandelion."

The Magneton laughed. "Your mother? That was Colress, you sparkless dolt."

They started arguing again, but Triste wondered what the emblem was doing. Colress had mentioned stuff like voodoo, psychological pressure, and connections before, while he was crafting them. Maybe they made someone see their mother and want to make her happy? But what would be the purpose of that?

After a minute of this, Colress recalled all but Triste. "This in-fighting would be a nuisance, but I had no plans on attempting battles styles beyond singles," he said. "I don't want them out right now because I think they've arrived."

"You keep me out because you trust me more than the others," Triste said with lights, pleased. But he seemed to mean some others in 'they'. He looked around to see who his Trainer was expecting.

There was a group of new Pokemon who had come into the meadow, all clustered near a human who hadn't been here earlier. The young man was waving off a Braviary who was flying to the north. Then, he spoke with an Alomomola and a Chandelure who had remained with him, while a Volcarona perched on his shoulder. Was that who Colress had been waiting for? Triste wasn't too keen on approaching someone with a Chandelure; he remembered all too well how the Litwicks used to tease him.

"The White King, is it?" Colress said to himself. "Maybe. Maybe not. Still, I've heard things about him; would be interesting to talk to him, especially if Reshiram isn't here now. We might even get closer to meeting with N... that would be the truly interesting connection." That seemed to decide it, as he nodded and headed over to meet with the young man.

"I hope this isn't trouble," Triste said, then followed Colress.

"Now here's a rare encounter," Colress said in a jolly tone when they got close enough. "I've seen things about you, but it's been a long while since you've been in Unova, isn't that so Hilbert?"

"Hmm?" The young man looked them over carefully. "Right. Why would you be interested?" Then he smiled. "Not that it's trouble, but I was hoping not to make a big fuss about being back."

"Now now, with the air about you, you're going to call attention to yourself no matter what you want." Colress shifted his glasses. "I'm simply a curious person, that's all. My name is Colress and I'm a scientist looking into the relations between humans and Pokemon. As I've heard..."

Right then, another young man with several other Pokemon ran out of the tree thicket nearby, coming up to them. "Excuse me, but... you have an air of ice about you."

Hilbert tilted his head at Colress. "Yeah, you do. Why is that?"

Triste drifted closer to his Trainer. Colress was caught between being glad that someone he wanted to see had just ran up to them, and starting to sweat because they caught him with an unexpected statement. "That's odd. I did spend much of the morning with a Trainer who specialized in Ice Pokemon, since we were both training out here. I hadn't thought that it could leave an impression on me."

The newcomer seemed disappointed, covering his face with one hand as he blushed. "Oh... oh that's why it's faint. I'm sorry, but I thought it might be something."

"Don't worry N, we'll find them," Hilbert said. Then he looked at Colress. "I hope it's not a bother, but if you've heard of me, then have you heard anything about Hilda Medley and Kyurem? We're looking for them."

He shook his head. "Can't say that I have lately." Which was, Triste realized, technically correct. Colress couldn't say what he knew without revealing more of who he was. "I only moved to this region two years ago, but I haven't heard much about them the past year. Although," he rubbed his chin. When the others looked interested enough, he said, "It's probably not much, but I've been interviewing Trainers for months now. I met a bright young pair just this week, a boy and a girl who say that they've been searching for clues about Hilda and Kyurem. And Keldeo, for that matter. I don't know how long you've been looking, but they might have come across something."

"It's nice that others are looking, but," N still seemed worried, not able to finish his statement.

"You never know until you ask," Hilbert said. "Who was this?"

"Rosa Wilburs and Nate... I didn't get a family name for Nate, but I observed them at Castelia Gym not that long ago. They should be heading for this area shortly."

Hilbert nodded. "I see. What were you interviewing them for?"

"Just as I said, for my studies." he continued talking.

In the meantime, Triste floated over to the one called N. Both of these young men seemed different than most humans. He wasn't sure why, but they seemed like people that could be trusted. "Your humans are different, alien almost," he said.

"Is that so?" the Zoroark replied.

Triste stopped where he was. "Uh, I, I didn't mean anything bad by it."

"Don't be afraid of him, Elgyem," N said. "Zane wouldn't attack without provocation. Madeline either, for that matter."

"I suppose," Triste said, but still wasn't sure about trusting them.

The Chandelure appeared nearby him, her flames nearly silent until she spoke. "It's a long story, but they're human and Pokemon. So they can understand us."

"Really?" He put his fingertips together, looking at N. Then he tried speaking with sound and lights. "I knew by your aura that you were someone special. But to understand us, that's more that I thought. It's intriguing. Colress would like to know about that."

N shifted his hat. "A lot of people have heard about us. Why are you speaking in two different ways? It's... odd, I guess."

"Sorry, I'm practicing," he said with just sound. Then light. "I need to master light-words before I can evolve. It's the way of my kind; the Beeheyem should rarely make a sound."

"I see. You're a little..." he imitated the motions Triste had been making, although it didn't mean anything without color. "Blurred, I suppose. I could get the basic meaning of that, but I think you need to make the transitions better defined so that the words don't blend into each other."

"Huh, maybe I need to speak with an elder sometime." Although how would he go about doing that? Maybe if they got lucky and came across a Trainer with a Beeheyem. Or if Colress had some reason to be around Celestial Tower, although Triste wasn't sure if that would be allowed.

Fortunately, N had no trouble interrupting the conversation Colress and Hilbert were having about the former's research study. "Excuse me, but I think it would help if you found a Beeheyem to visit," he said, then explained Triste's trouble with light-speech.

"I don't think that's actually a requirement for evolution," Colress said.

"It might be cultural," Hilbert said. "They have their own little traditions which are good to respect. And such a myriad varieties, between species, places, and even tribes to some extent. I was thinking about recording them, but there would be so many varieties."

"That's no excuse not to follow up on a scientific curiosity," Colress said, passionate about that. "Even if you only get a sampling of what's out there, your unique gifts would allow you to get information no other human has access to. Like I wouldn't have thought to try finding a Beheeyem to help Triste out. I thought it was instinctual knowledge like the moves, when I've seen Beheeyem communicate through light but the Elgyem primarily through sound. I'm not sure when I could get around to finding one, but I'll keep that in mind."

Triste bobbed in the air, happy to hear that. "Good, I'll keep practicing."

"Will he find you help?" Madeline asked.

"I'm sure he will if he can," he said. "We're great friends and he keeps me out around him almost all the time. He trusts me a lot to keep him safe and keep his secrets, and he talks to me as someone of equal intelligence. Although I'm in no way as smart as he is. Oh gosh, he can think of so many things at once and he builds the most amazing devices. If he says he'll do something, he'll do it even if it seems like a difficult problem."

"Trust friend warm," the Volcarona said, partly perching on Hilbert's shoulder and partly hanging off behind.

"Something like that," Triste said. He felt really happy about how things were going, as it seemed that Colress had found the people he wanted to find. Still, he resisted dancing around about it. That wasn't how he should be, although he felt like it. Maybe later when all the other Pokemon were gone.

"What kinds of things does he make?" N asked quietly.

"Um, I couldn't tell you that," Triste said. "Like I said, he trusts me. The people he works for don't want their innovations discovered early."

"Right, I should've thought of that," N said. Then he smiled. "But it's nice to see that you're so happy with him."

Colress noticed this and nodded. "Yes, I had picked him up for the study but lately he seems more of an invaluable assistant to me. So I treat him that way."

"He must be one of your best, with all the positivity he has towards you," Hilbert said. Then he chuckled. "Why would you even need that long-term study of yours? He's doing well enough."

"I don't know if I'm that good, but I try my best," Triste said. He thought for a moment, then added, "I guess our team could use more cohesiveness, but I'm not sure. At least the others would like names. That might at least stop them from bullying me."

"Really?" Hilbert said, raising an eyebrow. "He's the only one on your team with a name?"

Unfortunately, that little slip caused Colress some concern. "I don't battle quite as much as most Trainers, but I keep up a team in case my study participants want to try me. They're part of the study too, initially in groups that didn't need names."

"You'd get along better with all of them if you did give them names," N said. "It was one of the first things I learned as a Trainer; it's easier to establish a connection to a newly-caught Pokemon if you give them a name, because it makes them feel like they're special to you. Plus, there are times when speaking a Pokemon's unique name in a positive way will calm them down. You really should do so with any Pokemon you catch yourself, and respect the names of those who have them."

"I've seen some evidence of that," Colress said, but his last few words were blocked out by a trumpeting call from a short distance to the north, in the air.

"Good, they're back," Hilbert said, sounding relieved of some major worry.

Then the Braviary from earlier and two Dragon Pokemon appeared just over the treetops, descending to land in the meadow close to where they all were. And not just any dragons; these were the immortal guardians of this land, one dark like Chargestone Cavern sparking with energy and one bright like Celestial Tower lit by firelight. While it wasn't the first time Triste had seen such Pokemon face-to-face, it still filled him with unbelievable awe to see these two up close. Soon after landing, the two were surrounded by a white glow, growing smaller. They emerged as humans, still bearing their remarkable power.

"It's good to see you two again," N said as Zekrom and Reshiram came closer to the group. "I got really worried there for a while."

"There was some trouble," Reshiram said, running his hand through his thick white hair as if something felt out of place. "We'll talk about it later. Who's this?" He flicked his hand to the side, releasing a few strands of hair to the ground.

Triste just barely saw them. Normally, he wouldn't have thought anything of that. But it gave him an idea, one he almost immediately rejected. These were the powerful guardians of the land, wielding the force of ideas (but very potent ideas at that, especially in the hands of humans). He really shouldn't. Yet, Colress had said something earlier about wanting something directly connected to them and hairs must work based on what he'd done with that boy Nate several days ago.

While the others were distracted, Triste quietly drifted towards where the two dragons had landed. It took some careful looking, but he found the discarded hairs: long, white but with an orange-red end, and carrying an impression of power. He shouldn't... but it might end up with something great. Maybe if he was careful, he wouldn't be discovered doing something probably disrespectful. Triste collected a few of the white hairs, coiling them up to hide in his hand.

But samples from just one wouldn't do. Triste would need to get some from Zekrom too. However, she didn't seem to be fiddling with her hair like Reshiram had. How would he get that without seeming suspicious? She had shorter hair than Reshiram had, a luxurious black with hints of blue where the sunlight hit just right. It was fascinating, reminding Triste of ocean waves at night. Maybe... that could be even worse, but it might just work.

Zekrom noticed Triste when he floated up near her. Feeling a knot in his throat, he came a bit closer and softly said, "Um, s-sorry, I don't mean to bother you, but..."

"What is it?" she said quietly, in a kind tone.

He pulled his hands in close. "I, I think you're beautiful. Especially your hair. Um, why don't you grow it as long as your brother? It'd make you even more beautiful." I must sound like an idiot, he thought. But if that's what it took, that's what had to happen.

She did smile at least, like dealing with a possibly lovestruck idiot was a welcome break. Maybe it was that way... he should really be careful with thinking around these two. "Thanks. I hadn't thought of generating my hair long, that's all. But don't be too hopeful."

"I know," he said. "It was chance that we met at all. Um, but, ah, could I touch your hair? At least?"

"If you want," Zekrom replied.

Triste's heart pounded a little hard as he came up and stroked a portion of her hair. Was it nervousness at his plan or at an actual crush? It had to be the first, as the second was just silly. But her hair was nice and soft, if touched by a little static. Once he felt that he had a couple of loose hairs in hand, he immediately bolted for being behind Colress. His skin felt warm from embarrassment as the others noticed that movement and wondered what it was for. When their attentions passed, he opened that hand gently, keeping it out of the air's movements. There were three of the black-blue hairs in that hand, with the white hairs in the other. It was done. Now he just had to hope that this was as good as he thought it was.

After a few moments, the others headed off for Nimbasa, leaving Colress and Triste in Lostlorn Forest's meadow. Colress paced around for a couple of minutes, then broke out in a grin. "Well that was a rush. It's one thing to answer questions without really answering them, but doing so in front of two beings that know truth and purpose instantly? Wow. I wonder if daredevils feel this way in their dangerous thrills." Then he laughed, in a buoyant mood.

"I think I know what you mean," Triste said, feeling a mix of elation and anxiety himself. Then he put himself in Colress' way, showing Reshiram's hairs first. "I got these for you."

"The date, the place, and the dragons, it all matches up with what Nate predicted... hmm?" He seemed puzzled, then noticed what was there. Colress picked up the coiled up hairs from Triste's hand. "Odd, why...? Hang on, that orange, that was like his... you got hairs off of Reshiram? How?"

"And these," he said, offering Zekrom's hairs as well.

Realizing that he had both, Colress' eyes went wide for a moment, his lips fumbling for words. Then he clenched the white hairs tight as he dug around in his bag. "I know I should have some left. There!" He pulled out a pair of small plastic bags, putting Reshiram's hairs in one. When that was sealed, he took Zekrom's and placed them in the other. "Oh hell, I thought I was lucky enough to run into N and I didn't even think to try getting hair samples from the dragons. But you did."

"It was really close, but I had to try," Triste said, pleased.

He was still studying the hairs, although his hands were trembling some. "Not many, but one each should work for the controllers and the rest might be enough for DNA sequencing to further investigate the theory. This really was a fruitful day." Then Colress grinned again and took one of the Elgyem's hands. "You've done a magnificent thing, Triste! I don't know how you got away with it, but this is amazing! I might even have to spoil you a little bit for this."

Delighted to hear that, he laughed. "I just wanted to make you happy," Triste said.

"Maybe even calm myself down some before I get to work finishing this," Colress said, letting go. "Come on, I think I remember where a bakery that makes fresh Pokemon treats is in Nimbasa. If not, I know for certain where one is in Castelia. You can have whatever you want, all to yourself."

Triste cheered at that suggestion. This was the best day!

* * *

While they had agreed to talk in detail over what their separate investigations had found in private, Hilbert couldn't resist one question while they walked to Nimbasa. "What did you say to that Elgyem that got him to get all embarrassed like that?"

"You shouldn't be teasing mortals like that," Reshiram said in jest.

"He started it," Zekrom said, smiling a little. "It shouldn't be trouble."


	21. Resonate

June 5

Skyarrow Bridge

When Nate woke up that morning, Rosa wasn't in her hotel room. The receptionist said that she had checked out an hour earlier, asking questions about Skyarrow Bridge. That's where he found her and her Pokemon, looking through the safety fence at the bay below. "Good morning," he said.

"Morning," she said, looking over at him. "I hope I didn't make you worry. I just..."

He went up by her and looked over the bay. "You didn't go far. Look, that ship is leaving." He pointed out to the docks where that odd frigate was turning itself in the right direction. The sun was just over the horizon, its rays glinting off the low mist hanging on the water.

"Yeah. I never did find one of its crew to ask about it. Anybody I thought to ask didn't know anything either." She watched the ship for a moment, then asked, "Are you mad at me?"

"No," Nate said. "You're okay. Are you still bothered about yesterday?"

Bringing her lip, she nodded and gripped the fence. "Yeah."

"Currrrooo," Bard said, bumping his head against her hip.

She patted the Dewott's head. "Thanks. I wasn't sure what to think about it. I mean, it sounds ridiculous, the kind of thing that would be in some kid's storybook. There's all sorts of things that shouldn't make sense... like if I am Keldeo, and Keldeo in his usual form was locked up in that house until two years ago or so, how does that work? We were in two different towns at the same time, but not that far apart. Shouldn't there be some kind of problem with that? I mean, you caused a spatial rip in our house when you arrived."

Nate shrugged. "Maybe you were far enough apart? Or maybe there was something keeping your power locked down so that it didn't interfere with your older self. But really, I don't think your mom would lie about that; she told us what she knows. You can only find out for yourself by finding the places significant to you, and finding your memory." He paused. "Like I have to do. Strange, isn't it? I could have ended up anywhere in Unova, but I arrived right next to someone who might have a problem like my own."

Crossing her arms across her chest, she nodded and paced around. "Yeah, that is strange. Maybe someone arranged it, like Hilda maybe? But how would she know about me? I've never met her. Or maybe... depending on what powers brought you here, maybe we resonated or something which drew you to me."

"Resonated, huh?" He paused, raising an eyebrow at some thought. Ruby looked at him, sniffing in curiosity.

And what were they going to do about all that was going on? They were going to find the truth and kick Plasma's butt for daring to come back around again! Rosa grinned and clapped her hands together. "Yeah, we do! Maybe we don't know who we really are, but does it matter? No! We're here and we're going to pursue the cause of justice, liberty, and honor! In the past, Team Plasma sought to corrupt the meaning of the guardians of Unova by twisting truth and ideal to their greedy ends. They were defeated, but now they rise again from the shadows, seeking revenge for their defeat. But we will make sure that they will not prevail, even if the original heroes are no longer here. We resonate with purpose; we will find what lies in our shadows and then we will trash Plasma once and for all to preserve the glory of Unova, for we are Rosa and Nate, fighting against evil and defending the rights of humans and Pokemon!"

"Reso," Nate started to say, then burst into laughter. "Hah hah... and, hah, what do the three, hehe, I mean four sword legends stand for?"

What did he mean by that? "Huh? They defend the glory of Unova and stand for justice, liberty, and... WAIT, maybe I am Keldeo!"

"M-m-may..." Nate was then laughing too hard to speak clearly, leaning against Ruby for support. The Pignite seemed puzzled, but soon smiled and patted his head. Most of the other Pokemon were laughing too, although Patience looked bewildered and River slapped her forehead.

Briefly, Rosa felt nervous, bringing her hands to her chest. She had slipped into that so easily; the attitude felt right even if it wasn't who she thought she was. But looking at him now, she recalled the pictures from his old world, where people looked weary with grief even as they tried to smile. This happiness and laughter was genuine. Whatever Hilda had thought she was doing, she had the right idea in sending him here.

Once he had calmed down a bit, she put her foot down. "Well it's not like I remember anything about that. Something else might still be going on. Maybe I just resonate with Keldeo's ideals... what's so funny?"

Nate was shaking with laughter again. "You, you don't hear it?" He put his hand on his throat. "I, I'm having trouble b-breathing..."

"Seriously?" she asked, frowning.

He paused to calm down, but couldn't keep himself from smiling. "It's okay... just don't say anything funny for a bit."

"How can I do that if I don't know what's so funny?" She turned around, being indignant in jest. But... she saw the forest again, at the other side of the bridge. Something about it was enticing.

"I'm not even sure why it's so funny, but it is," Nate said, coming closer to her. When he saw the look on her face, he looked to the other end of the bridge too. "Were you thinking of going that way?"

"A little," she admitted. "I dunno why. I mean, that forest has to have lots of Grass Pokemon and I'm not sure I want to deal with them."

"Even Virizion?"

Rosa made a fist and stomped her foot. "Especially not Virizion!" Then she laughed. "Well, maybe I wouldn't mind seeing her so much. But I don't even know where you're supposed to find Virizion if you want to meet her. Lenora's Gym was that way, and I think the Striaton one is still operating unofficially. Otherwise, we really don't have a reason to go south now."

"Then which way do you want to go?" he asked.

"What's with all the questions?" Rosa said. "Whatever, let's just go north. We'll make more progress that way."

Nate tipped his visor and gave a slight bow. "As you wish."

"Ooo, what's up with you today?" She ran north a short ways, then laughed as she turned back. "You're being weird, for you. Did you have like an epiphany or something yesterday?"

"Something like that," he said, bringing his bike out from storage. "I was reading one of those papers that the password unlocked and there was a note with one of them. It said, 'You can spend your life looking for answers and find that your life has been nearly spent. But look away to find life and the answers may come to you.' And it made me think that what I have now is a lot better than I had. So, I'm gonna enjoy things a little more." Nate had put Patience in the basket of his bike by then, and was getting on to ride. "Like I'm going to enjoy beating you to the other side of Castelia City."

"Not fair!" she said, scrambling to get her own bike out. Even so, it was a quickly turning into a fun day.

* * *

Mistralton Regional Prison

It was sixteen months now that he'd been in prison, ever since that girl Hilda had tracked him down and handed him over to the police. Giallo didn't feel angry with her, though. Instead, he spent a lot of time considering what had happened and what he wanted to do now. He cooperated with the guards and did what he could to prevent trouble, not cause it. Because of this, he was trusted with some degree of freedom within the prison. He was allowed to room with Gorm, for one thing, which was good because not many others understood what it was like being within Plasma. They had been peers as Sages under Lord N; this had made them true friends instead.

In the early afternoon, they were given a message that there was a visitor who wanted to see both of them. After making sure that it wasn't a reporter, they went to the visiting room to find that it was one of the other Sages. Not Rood this time. "We haven't heard much about you," Giallo said to Zinzolin.

He was sitting on the other side of the glass, with no signs that the guards were watching him. "I worked things out with a lawyer," Zinzolin said. "He wanted me to keep quiet for a while, but I felt it was important to get in contact with you two again. How're you holding up in here?"

"They've been treating us reasonably," Gorm said. "There's a lot of team members that have been excused through psychologists, provided they perform community service and agree to be monitored. The police are even hiding it on their records, save for those who abused their position."

Leaning with his arms on the table, Zinzolin said, "I asked about you two, not the others. I've heard about them."

"I've got no complaints," Gorm said, shrugging.

Giallo nodded. "We've got no reason to complain. We agreed to serve these sentences in exchange for them guaranteeing what they've done for others, including Ryuko."

Zinzolin raised his eyebrows. "Ryuko, huh? What about him?"

"He initially was going to serve a full sentence with us," Giallo said. "We agreed that as leaders within the group, we should be held to a higher standard than the rest. But he fell ill early last winter. Between his age and the stress of adapting to this life, it nearly killed him. We negotiated to get him released early."

"And that worked?" he asked, skeptically.

"Sure did," Gorm said. "But only because we delayed when we'd be eligible for parole ourselves."

"Why would you take such punishment on yourselves?"

Giallo chuckled. "Are you sure you should be asking us that? Weren't you the one who was still hiding out in Cold Storage?"

Zinzolin shook his head. "That's different. I was free to leave at any time. You've neutered your freedom in exchange for something that doesn't benefit you at all."

"That's the point," Giallo said.

"Is it?"

Gorm nodded. "We all got caught up in something that was wrong. And the six of us who were closest to Ghetsis and N should have recognized and accepted it sooner; Rood did, at least. But we went along with it and thus ruined the lives of many within and without Team Plasma."

"That includes N," Giallo added. And Hilbert too, he thought to himself. He should have known the organization was flawed, especially when Ghetsis insisted that he cut off all ties to the boy he had raised. Giallo had called Hilbert his nephew, but he really was more of a son. He should have done things differently. But, it was past and the only thing to do now was to pay for the trouble he had caused. And keep the hope that Hilbert might contact him again, maybe forgive him.

Gorm said what Giallo wouldn't. "We fooled ourselves, so we're not victims. But those that we fooled, the people who bought into the dreams that N and Ghetsis spoke of, they were victims and we hate to see the innocent ones punished for what we perpetrated. We'll pay the price for them. As for Ryuko, we trust him. He would have stayed with us, but we'd rather not see him spend his final years in prison."

Zinzolin talked with them a little while beyond that, but he seemed disinterested in whatever brought him here. Once they had left the visitor's area, Giallo paused the guard who was accompanying them. "I suspect that he might have been trying to break us out, as well as any other former Plasma members held in this prison."

"What makes you think that?" the guard asked.

"He came to us with some purpose, but lost interest when we explained why we're here. Not only that, but there's been news and rumors that suggest that a group using the Plasma name has sprung up. You probably should tighten security for a while."

"Right," Gorm said. "Ghetsis was never caught and he likes big dramatic scenes."

"Sure, I'll pass the suggestion along," the guard said.

* * *

Route 4

One thing that River loved about being with Rosa was how the girl let her ride on the bicycle whenever she wanted. The Riolu had worked hard all her life to be a dignified and elegant fighter. Fun was undignified, something pups did to practice which wasn't nearly as effective as practicing seriously. Still, there was something that was just plain enjoyable about whooshing down the streets with the air blowing around her ears, all without doing any work besides helping to keep the bike balanced. The times they did this were a good balance to when River thought Rosa was not being serious enough as a Trainer for a serious Pokemon like herself. Weight was added further in how Rosa liked to have them out whenever reasonable, and in how she treated them so well without spoiling them. All in all, it came out in favor of sticking with Rosa, even without considering who she really was.

The bike rides always came to an end, but River didn't feel selfish enough to wish that it would go on, eventually tiring Rosa. Maybe someday she could make a bike go on her own. Nate had stopped ahead of them on Route 4, partly to check on Patience. "How'd you like that?" he asked warmly, petting her brown fur.

With her paws on the edge of the basket, the Eevee had her ears perked up. Her aura was still guarded, but it was opening up. "Oh wow that was fast, and, um, fast. I couldn't run that fast ever. I guess that was fun. Was it fun?"

"It's lots of fun," River said, hugging one of Rosa's arms as thanks.

"That's a good girl," Nate said. "I thought you might like it too, but I was worried you'd jump out."

"I'm good now?" Patience asked, swishing her tail slowly. "All right, you like me! I'll ride the bike if it makes me good."

"It's more like you're good if you don't jump out when the bike is moving and get badly hurt," River said.

"Oh, okay. But I'm still good now." She was pleased with this, nuzzling Nate's hand.

"You had a head start," Rosa said teasingly. "But wow, this place has changed."

"Has it?"

They had passed through the gatehouse, which usually led to a new area. But in this case, it was almost as if they hadn't left Castelia at all. They were surrounded by tall buildings that lined the street; not quite the skyscrapers in Castelia, but still over ten stories tall at least. The pavement seemed fresh and smooth. Everything this way was coated lightly in brown sand, even the air itself. Peering between some buildings, River could see patches of sand and the bay on the far side. Perhaps it was only this street that was built up.

"So is this part of Castelia or Nimbasa?" Nate asked, looking around still.

"Castelia, as far as I know," Rosa answered. "Nimbasa's some distance further north, although it won't take us nearly as long as crossing the city. Want to take a break?"

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking." They got off their bikes, so River jumped off and stretched before following the humans into a store.

"This is a cool place," Rosa said, her aura tinged with delight. It was a different kind of store, River thought, at least compared to others she'd seen. While there were a great many food items, it wasn't a grocery store. While there were various clothing items, it wasn't a clothing store. It had Pokemon accessories and treats, but not enough to be a store focused on Pokemon. It had a lot of interesting objects for sale, but there was also an area to sit and chat.

There wasn't a person at the register, but there were two men and a woman sitting near the front. While they had been chatting, they all tensed as the two teens and two Pokemon came on. "Oh, welcome to my store," one of the men said, smiling. "We have a little bit of everything, so I hope you find what you're looking for."

"We're looking for truth and justice, but I don't think we can buy those things," Nate said in a more serious tone than he felt. It made Rosa laugh.

"There's a dictionary for sale," the store owner said, getting in on the joke and causing his two friends to relax and join in the laughter. "It's at least honest."

"Can't argue with that," Rosa said.

"Well..." Nate said, tilting his head. "You could, but I don't feel like it. Dictionaries aren't worth the effort since they'll just define all your arguments."

"We're taking a break, so we're just gonna look around," Rosa said.

"Feel free." He then started talking to his visitors again.

Rosa and Nate went to look at the drinks that were for sale, thinking to buy some. In the meantime, River noticed that Patience was walking quietly in another direction. That could be trouble, so River followed her more quietly. The Eevee stopped in front of a bin full of colorful socks and stood on her hind legs to get a better look at what was in there. Her emotions seemed conflicted, clashing with different intents. Definitely trouble in the making.

"You should leave those alone," River warned her.

Patience's fur fluffed up in fright and she whirled around back onto all fours. "O-oh, it's you," she said, trembling. "You scared me."

"Better I scare you than what could have been," the Riolu said. "This is a store, so we need to leave things be. The humans will settle things."

Her eyes soon went back to the sock bin. "But they look so soft. Nice presents."

"They're not nice when you take what's not yours in the first place," River insisted, putting her paws on her hips. "We don't own them, and our Trainers don't own them. The store does, and the humans need to play their bartering game to change ownership. Stealing's not a good thing."

"But sometimes stealing things is good," she said, her ears twitching.

"It's never good. It's like someone taking the food you stored for winter."

"That bad?" Her voice quivered and she crouched down.

"That bad," River confirmed. "But if you don't touch them and let the humans do their thing, then it's good. Is that clear?"

"Um, I guess. So I can be good if I just don't do it." Patience sighed, then tilted her head. "So, um, what's the bartering game? Can we do it?"

River shrugged. "If you can understand it. I've never figured it out entirely. The humans have a supply of metal, paper, or imaginary items that aren't worth anything practical, but they're worth something because the humans say they have worth. Then they trade the worthless items with worth for actual items of worth. They do this with nearly everything."

"Um, what? That's really confusing." Patience shook her head, then pawed her nose. "Who thought it made sense to give imaginary items worth? Paper and metal maybe, but imaginary?"

"I got as far as learning numbers up to one hundred, and it got harder from there," River said. "They even have a number for nothing. The numbers play a big part in their bartering game. Like I said, leave it to them and if you really must have something, try to get their attention and point it out."

Hearing footsteps, they both looked up to see Nate walking towards them. His attention was in a book, though, one with a rough tan cover. Rosa wasn't with him at the moment, making River wonder where she was. Before she could determine that, though, Nate looked to them and crouched down. "You two being good?"

"I'm trying," Patience said, keeping her paws close together as she sat there.

He petted the Eevee a moment, then looked at River. "Hey," he said, softening his voice. "I was wondering... can you tell if those people can be trusted?"

"Well," River looked back to the three adults, caught in their own conversation. Their auras were colored with alertness. Nothing was obviously bad, but they each had a little nervousness of being caught. When River glanced at Patience, she noted that she had the same kind of nervousness, down to the color and degree. Perhaps it was a fear of punishment for a wrong they didn't entirely mean to commit. "Maybe. A Lucario could tell better." She shrugged her shoulders.

Nate seemed to be thinking on it, then stood up. "I guess I'll take a chance on them. Hey." He walked over to the sitting area.

"I wonder what he's up to now," River said, following him over. The more mysterious parts of Nate's aura, which she was still figuring out, were particularly strong now. Now that they had confirmation that Rosa was Keldeo, she wanted to figure Nate out too.

"Does he know something he shouldn't again?" Patience asked, deciding to follow him too.

"Yes, is there something you need?" the store owner said.

"I don't mean to trouble you, but I have a way of knowing things. Were you three formerly in Team Plasma?" Nate wasn't accusing them of anything; he was simply asking the question.

But it still caused a great deal of worry among the three. They didn't seem suspicious at first, as they weren't wearing anything out of the ordinary. But they feared retaliation and shame. "Well," the store owner said, looking to his two friends for support.

At the same time, Nate glanced down at her. River didn't notice anything threatening about these adults. They were being threatened just by the question. Because of that, she nodded to him. They were trustworthy.

"I don't mean you ill by that," Nate reassured them, looking at them again. "My friend might not like it, but I'm fairly new to the region. It doesn't bother me."

"You don't seem so bad," the woman said, relaxing some. "The Plasma we followed is gone now. We've been contacted by those trying to revive it, but their aim is completely different so we declined them."

"That's good of you," Nate said, taking out his wallet while holding the book under his arm. "I was hoping to run into others. A few weeks ago, I encountered another former member in Aspertia. He said that he hadn't had any contact with others from Plasma since it broke up, so I thought you might like to get in contact with him. Here it is; he gave me a business card." He passed over the card.

"Good, there's some things he should hear about," the store owner said, taking it and looking over the information. "I'll copy this down and we'll get a hold of him. Thanks for this."

"No problem," Nate said with a smile. "Oh, and I was wondering about these hymnals you have on sale. They seem really old, more appropriate for antiques."

"Those books were excavated from a site just north of here," the other man said. "The building crews uncovered and damaged some old structures that were hidden under the sand. Lots of scholars were upset and we've managed to get them to stop development temporarily. We're raising support and awareness for the rest of the ruins to be preserved, but we need the money and there were hundreds of those books in one area. But how do you figure that it's a hymnal?"

He went over to sit in an open chair, opening the book up. "That's what it is, isn't it? Just look at the format of this; the music notation is unusual, but someone might be able to interpret it. And..." he flipped a page, running his finger along a line. "Some of this this I can understand."

River was puzzled by that, since the book was browned with age. The others were equally curious. "That language is over two thousand years old. We're still trying to find a scholar who can translate it. How can you read it?"

Frowning but with troubled eyes, Nate shook his head. "I don't know. I just opened it and saw that some phrases were kind of familiar. Like this, it's giving thanks to a god. Listen." He then started to read the book aloud, using odd words that River didn't immediately understand.

"How does he do that?" Patience asked.

"No clue," River said. Rosa was coming back, but the conversation was now about the book. For a minute, the Riolu wondered if it was right to not tell her about who these people really were. But it could be like not indicating that Patience had been considering taking socks. Nothing had happened, so nothing needed to be said.


	22. Join Join Avenue!

June 5

Route 4

It was mid-afternoon when Nate and Rose stopped their bikes in front of the large building that led into Nimbasa. However, it wasn't the usual gateway. Instead, it was a broad building with a huge entrance, enough so that a truck could have easily driven through it. Large neon sculptures depicting shooting stars spread across the top in multiple colors, while a nearby sign stated, 'Welcome to Join Avenue, the latest craze in happy shopping! See your friends and neighbors build up wonderful shops under the guidance of a local owner. You'll find what you weren't looking for at Join Avenue!'

"Vee?" Patience asked, putting her paws on the basket and trying to look around him at the building.

"That's a weird shop," Nate said. "Or is it a mall? I can't think of any other reason to plop it right on a public route, and even then you think it'd be a nuisance to locals."

"I dunno, but it looks exciting," Rosa said. "We have to pass through, so let's check it out."

"Not like we have a choice." They got off their bikes to walk through Join Avenue, Patience and River jumping off the bikes to walk too.

Inside, they found a clean and colorful series of stalls, like a street marketplace given a roof. Bright lights and textured floors gave it a new feeling despite it being a part of a route. All but one of the stalls were totally empty, devoid of any signs of business. And the one open shop didn't seem that impressive, only holding a few racks of baseball caps and various patches. There were two boys at the store who couldn't be much older than twelve, talking with a group of men and women in business attire; the latter were probably in their thirties or so.

"You were supposed to be helping us," the boy in front of the counter said. "But hardly anybody stops by our shop."

"You haven't done much to promote Join Avenue, which was your task," the man in the center said. He had a pinstripe suit of powder blue and white and carried a brown suitcase like he was much too busy to work in one place. "I'm afraid that you can no longer be the owner, which means you'll have to convince the new one to to let the store stay."

"Why would you make a kid the owner of a shopping mall?" Nate wondered aloud.

"It does seem silly," Rosa said.

"This stinks," the former owner said, turning to talk to his friend who was looking downcast at the counter.

"Hey, you two," the man in the blue suit said, ignoring the two kids in favor of them. "You seem to be good young folks."

"And you can tell how?" Nate asked skeptically, causing Rosa to giggle. "It's not like we're wearing signs or something."

"Sharp in wits too," he said, smiling. "I know; I am an excellent judge of character. I'll make this brief: I'm the man who built this place, Mr. Cartridge. Join Avenue is meant to be a place to make people's dreams come true, especially in small business."

"This sounds familiar," Nate said, thinking of Pokestar Studios.

Mr. Cartridge chose not to respond to that. "It's to provide space and equipment to people who want to start up little shops and businesses, as well as captivate customers and pedestrians. But I don't have the time needed to run the Avenue in person, so I'm looking for an energetic young person to take over as owner, to promote Join Avenue and search for shops to start up. Would one of you be willing to do so?"

"I dunno..." Rosa said. River sniffed.

"How in the world does that work?" Nate asked. "You built it, and must have come up with the idea and resources for it. You're the owner. What kind of sense does it make to ask whoever's passing through to take over ownership? It obviously didn't work before. One would think you'd at least interview candidates. While I'm at it, what economic sense does this make? Leaving it to run under an inexperienced and possibly unqualified owner, sponsoring start-up business owners that you haven't met personally. For all you know, we'll only be in Nimbasa for a day. It's nice that you're giving people the chance to try building economic independence, but what do you get out of it?"

"I don't need to get anything out of it other than the satisfaction of seeing my vision happen," Mr. Cartridge said. "After all, I'm ridiculously rich and I can cover any loss this has."

"But what would your new owner get out of it?"

"Excellent, you're just the kind of person I'm looking for," Mr. Cartridge said cheerfully. "Come on, I'll show you the office and explain the details." He headed off with his group to a closed off area opposite the boy's hat shop.

After staring at them a moment, Nate turned to Rosa. "What just happened there?"

"I don't get it either, but it seems you own the place now," she said. At some thought, she smiled. "Oh hey, you're supposed to make yourself known and liked, right? This could be a great way to do that."

"It could also be a big risk," he pointed out. But as long as he didn't have to pay anything for this strange job, maybe it would be worth something. "Might as well see what this is about. Here, would you take my Pokemon and take them to the Pokecenter? You can meet me back here when you're done."

"Sure, I'll look for a place to stay too," she said, taking them. "It's been a few years since I've been back here, but I remember a few places. Come on, Patience."

"Aaaoo," the Eevee whined, putting her ears down.

"Well, I'll keep her with me," Nate said, so Rosa nodded and handed back the one Pokeball. While she went out to look around Nimbasa, he followed Mr. Cartridge to find out what this was really about.

* * *

Nimbasa didn't look much different than when she'd left. It was still bright, colorful, and noisy. Ahead to her right, there was the entrance to the amusement park when Elesa had decided to set up her gym. A little ahead to her left, the impressive main station for the subway system still glimmered like a jewel. The flags flapping overhead and on lamp posts seemed new and bright, while a few masterful chalk drawings (and many childish ones) were scattered along the sidewalks. While Castelia was a place where people went to work, Nimbasa next door was where they came to play.

Was she the same person who had left here? Rosa wondered that for a moment, then decided it wasn't really important. The Pokecenter was on the other side of the station, so she put her bike up and walked over to get her Pokemon and the two of Nate's healed up. Some of the battles today had seemed really easy compared to what her team had faced in the battle dojo. Then again, there had been one rather difficult match, so healing them up was best.

The Pokecenter was a little different than she remembered. They had just been installing the mini-store when her mother had been transferred, and they had replaced some of the furniture. However, she did recognize the nurse on duty. "Hi Selena!" she said as she passed over her ID card.

She didn't even have to look at it before she smiled warmly. "My goodness, is it Rosa come back here? It's been so long; you've grown into a lovely young lady."

"It seems like a long time," Rosa agreed. "I came to get my Pokemon and those of my friend healed up."

"Of course, I'll get right to it," she said, taking the Pokeballs to the machine. "So are you taking the League challenge now?"

She nodded. "Yup, that's what we're here for. Oh, and what hotel would you recommend here now? Nate's off talking with somebody, so I'm taking care of it."

"There's a few good ones around," Selena said. "Is he your boyfriend?"

"No, he's not," she said, trying not to get worked up about it. "We're just friends and I like it that way."

"I suppose that is the important thing," she said. Then she giggled. "Sorry, I just got into reading romance novels about teenaged Trainers that go traveling together and end up falling in love along the way. Some of them are really cheesy, but I still love them. In the last one, they didn't even finish up the League challenge because they found it wasn't what they were searching for."

"I've read a few like that," Rosa said, smiling. "I don't expect that to happen, but I guess it would be nice."

"You never know. About where you can stay, there's a nice place just down the street that caters to Trainers and their Pokemon. It's..." She paused a moment to think, then told Rosa where to find the place.

It didn't take long to get there and arrange for rooms for the two of them. As Rosa was leaving the hotel, she heard the familiar ringing of Curtis' Xtransciever. "Hey, good afternoon!" she said cheerily on answering.

"Hey Rosa," Curtis said, sounding dispirited. "Um, I don't know how long I'll get to talk with you. I had to sneak off to the roof and they might get mad at me, but..."

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Do you mind if I rant for a bit?"

"Hang on a sec." Rosa looked around; the number of pedestrians was increasing and she'd be in the way if she stayed here. So she walked over towards the end of the street. "I just had to make sure I wasn't in the way of anybody. Go ahead."

"Thanks... though I'm not sure where to start. Things around here have been crazy lately, although some of it is me just now realizing what's going on. I heard somebody say a while ago that those who burn bright too fast end up burning out. With all the talk about keeping up with the hype and what's happened, I get the feeling that those around me don't care if they push me into burning out. Some might even want me to so they can drop me and pick up on the next hype."

Hearing that made Rosa feel mad. "Well if they really feel that way, they don't care about you and you shouldn't have to listen to them."

"I'd love not to listen to them, but it's complicated. Contracts, you know. They act very nice and treat me well to my face, but I've overheard them speaking otherwise. And I know my manager is already scouting for someone new to focus on; I heard him interviewing others and what he has lined up for me is... ugh, most of it is cashing in for as much as they can while they can. And the thing that isn't that, I really don't want to do. It's way too gimmicky."

"What is it?" Rosa said, pausing by the fancy iron fence that stood at the end of the street. Past here, there was a few feet of grassy land before a sharp slope led down to the bay. At this point, one could see the shore of Driftviel in the distance.

"They're setting me up with a blind date later this month," Curtis said with distaste. "Which I wouldn't mind as I've done something like that before, but the way they're choosing my date this time is just ridiculous. It's going to be decided with a small Pokemon battle competition that's a part of the build-up to the grand opening of the Pokemon World Tournament Stadium in August. What's even worse is that I'm not even going to be a part of the competition, just the prize."

"That is crazy," Rosa agreed. She was briefly distracted by seeing that strange frigate in the water again, but turned her attention back to Curtis.

"Isn't it? In a way, I can understand what they were getting at. I've got a couple strong Pokemon, but we battle so little that it won't be much of a challenge. So they contacted some dedicated battlers to be the actual challenge, and those guys wanted a Doubles challenge. I understand that that's what they like doing. But I'm going to end up having a date with someone who is probably also a dedicated battler, someone I wouldn't be able to compete with. Or even a guy, if that's how it happens."

"You could also end up with two girls," Rosa piped up. "Most guys wouldn't mind that and you could always sweet talk your way out of doing battle."

Thankfully, that did make him laugh a little. "I guess that's true. You're not worried about saying that to me as a girl?"

"Well, it is only one date," she said. She looked over the water, thinking of something. "Have you talked with your parents about it? They might protest."

"Actually, they helped plan this," Curtis said, unhappy again. "I, I just don't know what to do about them. I know I should respect them, but I don't feel like I can trust them. I could trust my uncle and aunt; if they had heard about my work friends taking me out to bars, they would've thrown a fit and grounded me. My parents don't care. My mother even asked me the other day why I wasn't doing that lately. And with what I found the other day... argh, I think that nobody can have a weirder life than me sometimes."

Rosa bit her lip. Then she said, "I bet I do."

"That's unlikely."

"No, really," she said, leaning on the fence. "I mean, my life was normal for years, cause I thought I knew everything about myself, that I was just some clumsy cheerful girl from Aspertia. But then the strangest things started happening, first of all when I met Nate because he fell out of the wall onto my bed."

"What?" Curtis asked flatly.

"I'm not kidding! It seemed like he was just the weird one at first, because he can see other people's memories sometimes but doesn't know his own that well. But then stuff started happening to me too, like my necklace turns into a sword and Pokemon medicine seems to work on me much better than it normally does on humans. Then my mom came to visit us yesterday and she said that I'm actually the reincarnation of Keldeo."

"Umm..."

"That's what I thought! I trust my mom and dad, though. Plus my mom's usually really bad about playing jokes, cause I can tell by her expression that she is. She didn't seem to be joking that time. It doesn't seem sensible. But you know, I've always been fascinated by water and no matter how much I try to think of something more reasonable, I have this feeling that won't be shaken, that this is real. I'm not sure how I'd go about finding proof to this. Maybe meeting one of the others like Cobalion, but those three are really hard to find."

"That is really weird," Curtis said. "But... you know, I've never met you in person, but I feel like I can trust you. I mean, you don't speak to me like those who just want my favor. You speak like you really care about me."

"That's cause you're my friend now," she said.

"Yeah, a real friend," he said. "Aw geez, now you've got me tearing up."

"Oh, don't cry!" she said in a cheerful tone. "We're both in weird situations, but smile and hope for the best."

"Well... I'll try. Hah, that's how they want me to act, but it's been a while since I actually felt that way. Although... she said that you were Keldeo?"

"That's right."

She heard him snap his fingers. "I remember... last year I was doing a shoot and there was an elderly couple having a picnic. While the guys were setting up, I talked with them a little and they told me a story about Keldeo that supposedly happened at that very spot. It was... there was a waterfall, I remember that."

A story about Keldeo? Why hadn't she thought of that? Find some stories about Keldeo, then try going to the places they told about. "What was the story?"

"It's..." someone yelled at Curtis. "They found me," he muttered, then yelled back, "I'm taking a break because you haven't given me one! No, I don't consider that a break. Let me hang up at least." He sighed, then said, "Sorry about that."

"Bad timing on their part," she said. "If you can remember more about the story, just call me later. Or call me just to talk more."

"Right, I'll see if I can remember where that was. Well, thanks for listening again. Talk to you later."

"Sure thing," she said, letting the call disconnect. Looking back across the bay, she saw the frigate pull closer to Driftveil. "Still wish I could see inside that ship," she said to herself, then hurried back to meet with Nate.

When she got back to Join Avenue, a few people were passing through but not stopping. Nate wasn't there. However, the two boys with the hat shop were still there, sitting on the counter now and discussing ideas. "Maybe we should try Driftveil Market," one said.

"But then we'd have to walk across the bridge everyday," the other said. "Dad will definitely find out."

"You made the store without your parents knowing?" Rosa asked.

"Umm," the second boy turned pink.

"Dad wanted us to deliver papers to earn extra money," the first boy said, disappointed. "But there weren't any openings at the first newspaper office, and the other didn't want any paper boys at all. I thought I could get lots of money by owning a whole mall! It was really complicated, though, and the other shop I got going closed in a day because our friend thought it was too much work."

"Well we could only be open a few hours too," the second boy said. "Somebody even stole a few hats and patches earlier when we had to be doing chores at home."

"Is there anybody else to run the store?" she asked.

"Nuh-uh," he said, shaking his head. "They had where I could hire another clerk, but that would have taken more of our profit away."

"But if your store could be open more, you'd make more money. Um, was there something you were saving for? I'm sorry if I'm butting in." she smiled, curious about what they were doing.

"Well as long as you don't tell our dad," the second boy said.

"We want to join a scout camp in another region later this summer," the first boy said. "But our parents wouldn't agree to the cost. So we thought we'd earn enough money to pay for the camp we want instead of going to the Sarasota camp as usual."

"You came in with that guy they made the new owner, right?"

Rosa nodded. "Yeah, he's my friend."

"Do you think he'll let us keep the store? We really want to go to the camp and we'll earn the money if we have to."

"If you tell him what your goal is, I'm sure he'll work things out with you," she said. Then she clenched a fist. "And if not, I'll make him."

Both of the boys broke out in grins at that. "Thanks!" the second boy said.

Rosa talked with them a little more until Mr. Cartridge and his posse came out. If they noticed the boys still there with the merchandise, they paid it no heed and headed right away to their next place of business. A minute later, Nate and Patience came out of the office as well. The Eevee walked carefully by and just behind Nate, while he was reading something on his Xtransciever's screen.

"Hey, how'd it go?" Rosa asked, waving to him.

"It looks like I own this marketplace now," he said, flipping down the screen on his wristphone to look over at them. "Oh, you're still here. Hey, don't feel too bad about being fired as owner."

"Why's that?" the first boy asked.

He crossed his arms over his chest. "I suspect that Mr. Cartridge fully expects this place to fail. Maybe he's trying to avoid paying the taxes he should, I don't really know why. I had no intentions of doing something like this. But you know, the way he spoke to me was deceptive and demeaning and I don't like that. That makes me want to see this place succeed, maybe something more than that too. I need some time to think about it, but it could work."

The second boy looked quizzical. "Huh, wait, so you know that he's lying to you? But you're going to do what he asks anyhow?"

Nodding, Nate said, "Because he thinks money will get him out of anything. Perhaps, but I'm willing to try humiliating him."

"Whoa, you're, like," the first boy had his eyes wide as he fumbled for his words. "It's crazy, but kinda awesome!"

Nate scratched his head. "I don't know about awesome. Crazy, yes."

"But you'll need to get stores for this place first," Rosa said. "Well these two have been working hard, so why not keep their store? Go on, tell him."

"Oh yeah," the first boy said, then explained about his and his brother's plan to earn money for a scout camp.

Thankfully, Nate listened to them. "I see. What are you selling?"

"Patch Hats!" the second boy said, touching the white and orange hat he wore. There was a patch of a Skorupi on it. "They're awesome cause you can swap out the patches any time you want to make a different hat. See?" He pulled the patch off his hat, showing the velcro behind it. Then he put it back on, crooked by accident. "We've got the hats and patches."

"Anything else?" Nate asked.

"Um, no," he said.

"We collect patches more than anything else," the first boy said. "But the store that was selling them in Nimbasa stopped a while back. Some of our friends have come by to buy new patches, but we haven't sold as much as we thought."

"Patch hats are cool, but I like my visor," Rosa said, patting her hair. "I can't make these pony tails with a hat."

Nate went up to the counter and looked at their store. There was a lot of empty counter and storage space. "Well... first of all, I think you should tell your parents what you're doing."

"What, really?" the first boy asked, not really wanting to.

But he smiled at them. "You tried to run an entire shopping mall, so you're certainly trying all that you can to get the money for your camp. Then we'd have to consider what to do with the shop when you boys are away at camp. Would you want to run it again when you came back?"

"Maybe," the second boy said.

"Oo, what about your scout troop?" Rosa said, clapping her hands. "Maybe if you guys talk to your scout leader and get your troop involved, you can earn a business patch or something."

"Hey, that'd be cool," the second boy said. "And we could take turns."

"I'm pretty sure you could do that, although I'd need to check the rules more thoroughly," Nate said, flipping up his Xtransceiver screen again. "Which I was planning on. But I think if you want to be successful, you should try selling more that just the hats and patches. Are there other collectable items that are popular with kids around here?"

"The hats are good enough for us," the first boy said.

"Um, there's some guys at school who like to collect Robomis," the second boy said. "They're little robot toys that are used in a game that came out earlier this year, but once you buy the starter kit, you can only get them from vending machines in Castelia. I like them."

Nate turned around so that the two boys on the counter could see his Xtransciever. "You're in luck; I saw that vend stalls are an option earlier. And if Robomis is that new, you might be able to catch it when it goes popular. You can still sell the hats when there's a worker here, but the vending machines would always be open for people to buy stuff."

"That'd be great!" the second boy said, leaning over so he could see.

"So it wouldn't matter if we went to camp later on," the first boy said. "We might have to hire a worker though, since the camp here is at the same time. But then next year, maybe we could all go on a trip!"

"There is something you have to keep in mind," Nate said, taking on a serious tone. "If you run a vending stall, you'll be given keys to the machines and be responsible for taking the money from them and turning it in to the office workers. You need to be honest and give them all the coins and bills you get from the machines. Do that and the office will pay your wages every two weeks. I will be checking the data from the machines against what you turn in."

"We can be responsible," the second boy said, straightening up.

"Yeah, scout's honor," the first boy said. "You won't have any trouble with us."

"Then show that you are worthy as scouts," Nate said, nodding. "What other kinds of vending machines would you like to have? You'll want to appeal to as many people as you can."

"Um," the first boy looked to his brother.

"We could have drinks and snacks," he suggested, pointing out to Route 4. "There might be buildings out there, but it's still sandy and dry, so travelers might like having that right here at the entrance. Oh, and stickers! I know some kids who always get sticker sheets with parts of their allowance."

"How about Fluffies?" Rosa asked, brightening. "They're so little and cute!"

"Fluffies are girly," the second boy said.

"But you should have something that girls would like too," Nate said.

The two boys were reluctant, but eventually agreed to have Fluffies and another collectable vend machine that would appeal to girls. It would take a day to get the shop changed over, but the first shop for Join Avenue under Nate was allowed to stay open.


	23. Desert Blockade

June 6

Nimbasa

They were in a new town, at least to Nate. The light breeze smelled of the bay while the sun shone in a clear sky. "So what's around here?" he asked, since he'd gotten too busy with the Join Avenue venture yesterday to ask then.

"A lot of fun stuff!" Rosa said, starting to point things out. "There's Gear Station, the center point of Unova's subway system; you can reach most towns with it, plus they have a set of battle trains that are supposed to be a really tough competition for Pokemon."

"Battling in subway trains?" Nate asked. "I'd heard of subway battles, but I thought they were at big stations."

"I wonder if they have a time limit. Like you need to finish a battle before you arrive."

He tapped his foot on the pavement, thinking. "That could be really tough. Subways are meant for fast travel."

"It's probably better to ask them. Anyhow, you saw that big gate near the entrance, right? That leads to an amusement park! It's free to get in, but some of the attractions have to be paid for. But not the Pokemon Gym. And then, somewhere around here," she turned around, pointing to a building in the opposite direction. "Over there, I think. I remember there being a really serious group of researchers who were looking for Trainers around the time that I left. Their lab might still be around, I don't know. But I do know that if you all the way to the north side of the city, you'll find the Pokemon musical theater!"

"Do they have Pokemon sing?" Nate asked, thinking.

She shrugged. "Sometimes, but it's mostly dance and dressing them up to be all fancy. I liked watching some of the shows, but there were Pokemon that didn't look too comfortable in their costumes. That annoyed me. Also on the north side, there's a pair of sports stadiums. I hear that the players and fans are really into Pokemon battles. As long as there's not a game going on, it's probably the best place to train inside Nimbasa itself. The subway battles are probably too hard."

"No way to know until we try ourselves." He closed his eyes for a bit. Argent poked him in the shoulder playfully.

"So, what do you want to do today?" Rosa asked. "I was thinking about trying to find some old friends, if they're still around."

"I need to do some training, as usual," he said, glancing at Argent then looking at her. "I also want to check out the desert area again; I've got some ideas about how to handle the Gym here. But now I've also got that mall to consider. So there's a theater... definitely should find someone who can groom Pokemon well, because that'd be a big draw."

"Hey, how about a shop that sells accessories... oh yeah!" She pumped a fist in the air. "I met this girl in Castelia, Melissa I think. She's the one I traded Angel to, to get Grim. She likes fashion."

"Could ask, at least," Nate said with a nod. "Actually, I remember talking the Hugh's sister Violet a few times, about how her and her mother liked to cook. I wonder if I could convince them... but her mom already works as a cook."

"Ask them anyhow," Rosa said. She could remember their mother talking about how she would like to set up a small bakery of her own. "It might be out of the price range, though, since they'd need all sorts of gear."

"The Join Avenue group will provide most things which are paid off through the wage system they have. They'll be all right. I'll probably look to an advertisement to get a groomer, but if you could put me in contact with Violet and the other girl, that'd be a good start."

"Okay, I have their numbers right in here." Since Nate had never spoke with the Castelia girl, and Rosa wanted to check up on Angel too, he let her call on Melissa.

Meanwhile, he was going to try reaching Violet and her mother. Rosa had given him a few numbers to try, but he got her after a few rings on her Xtransceiver. "Hi Nate!" she said, smiling warmly. "I wasn't expecting to hear from you."

"Hi Violet," he said, smiling back. "How are things going over there?"

"It's good. I thought it'd be quiet without you three around, but me and my friends have been having fun. How are you three?"

"Me and Rosa are doing great. But we actually don't see much of Hugh."

She looked disappointed. "Oh, really? He called me a few times, but I haven't heard from him lately. Could you check up on him and make sure he's okay? And tell him to call home more. Me and mom and dad worry about him."

Nate nodded. "Sure thing. I'll twist his ear until he agrees."

She laughed. "Don't hurt him too much. But thanks."

"No problem. I was calling about an interesting offer I got yesterday. Do you have anything going on this summer? Like a job or clubs?"

"No, not really," she said. "I was thinking about getting a part-time job, but I might be a little late now. I wanted to work on my baking, but I was talking with mom about it and the problem is that if I practice, we'd be making too much for everyone to eat. Maybe we'll send you and Rosa some things."

"Actually, that's perfect. See, I somehow became in charge of an indoors marketplace near Nimbasa."

"Whoa, really?" Her eyes were wide with surprise.

He nodded. "Really, and I have a lot of empty spots for shops. The big thing is, there's a funding system with it that will provide what items people need to set up their dream shops. There's a lot of options for food shops, even for bakeries. When I saw that, you were the first person I thought of. Do you want to take charge a bakery here? You can invite your mom to work with you too, if she can manage it."

"That's amazing!" Violet seemed to be hopping in excitement, based on the movement of the background. "I don't know if I'm good enough, but that would let me practice lots of things. And I think mom might be up for it. Can you hang on a moment? I want to connect mom in."

"Sure." He glanced over to see how Rosa was doing.

It was good timing. "He's right here, so I can ask him," she was saying before looking at him. "Hey Nate, if she runs an accessory shop, does she have to make all the items she sells?"

He came closer and spoke up, hoping that Melissa could hear it. "No, we can put her in contact with a supplier to fill out her stock."

"Did you hear that?" Rosa asked, looking back to the phone.

"Yeah, it's good that they'll let me sell other things," Melissa said. "I don't have a lot of extra stuff. Oh, and would they have a sewing machine and supplies there too?"

"I think so," Nate said. "If you want to meet up with me in Join Avenue later today, I can show you the options."

"Nate?" Violet said.

"I'm here," he said, then excused himself from the other conversation. Now a third window on the screen showed Violet's mother. "Did you hear about the offer?"

"It certainly seems interesting. Would you explain it again?"

He nodded and told her about Join Avenue's system. "You don't have to handle the business end of things because the office will take care of it."

"Including the money and credits?"

"That too. You'll turn in the money you've made to the office and they'll sort out wages, taxes, and fees, the last part including start-up funds for the equipment."

"That's certainly a welcome respite from hassle," she said. "Work at the restaurant I'm at now has been really stressful lately, part of it because of the non-cooking tasks they assign me. I always thought it'd be great fun to have my own bakery, but I wanted to focus on the baking, not money and all that. This would be perfect... I wouldn't be able to start right away, since I need to give advanced warning of quitting."

"Could I go over and start it?" Violet asked.

"If you have a few simple recipes to start with, I don't see why not," her mother said, nodding. "What kinds of machines do they have?"

While he could meet up with Melissa because she lived in Castelia, Violet probably wouldn't be able to arrive for a few days. "I think I can show you now," he said, requesting that his Xtransceiver bring up the Avenue files on the open fourth window. "Let me zoom in on this and find the bakery options."

"Wow, looks like they can do so much," Violet said, impressed on seeing the index for store listings.

"Yeah, they went all out setting this up," Nate said. Again, he wondered what the purpose of putting all this effort into the Avenue was if Mr. Cartridge didn't seem to care. He selected the bakery option. "You can choose to focus on Pokemon, humans, or both. Looks like the items that will be there regardless are a work sink, a sanitizing station, an oven, a worktable, a display front, and a register. Also, ingredients and other supplies can be delivered on a regular basis, whatever you think you'll need."

"Do they have different options on the oven?" Violet's mother asked. "And a fridge unit would be helpful."

"What about a poffin mixer?" Violet asked. "They're easy enough to make by hand, but they don't come out the same."

"I know I saw the poffin mixer in there," Nate said. "And the fridge. Let's check on the oven."

After showing them what was available, Violet and her mother agreed to open a bakery. Nate set that up for them so that by the time Violet arrived, the bakery would be installed. That just left Melissa to check up on. "She wants to check in on it in person, with her grandmother," Rosa said. "They're going to come up here for lunch, so they'll meet us at the station about a quarter to noon."

He nodded. "Sure, gives me a few hours to check out the desert. Maybe some other things. You want to come with me, or are you all right on your own?"

"Of course I'm fine on my own," she said. "Wow, you've got a lot going. I wonder if the subway reaches Virbank now, if I want to visit Pokestar." She giggled at that.

"Whatever works," he said, smiling. "Well then, I'll guess we'll meet back up when we can... oh yeah, nearly forgot something. Violet said she hasn't heard from Hugh in a while. Keep an eye out for him, and if you do see him, annoy him until he agrees to call home."

"What?!" Rosa asked, frowning at that. "He hasn't called home lately? What's up with him? Well he'd better hope he runs into you, because I'm gonna really get after him about this."

Nate shifted his visor. "Is it wrong that I'm hoping you do run into him, so he takes this seriously?"

"I dunno," Rosa said. "I'll see you when I see you. Have fun!"

* * *

Nate had to head back through Join Avenue to get where he wanted. The boys weren't at their shop, but it was already adjusted to its new function. Which was a surprise, since turning it into a vending machine area meant taking out most of the counter and installing all the machines. There was a group of teenagers there, getting drinks and talking about their plans. As he thought, that worked better than the very narrow focus than it had been before.

Coming out from the building, there was a path to the right that headed to Desert Resort, joining up with the main part of Route 4. An elevated highway was overhead; the structure thankfully managed to block a lot of the noise. He headed straight ahead until he had to cross under the highway again to reach an unpaved path. Instead of the nice grassy ground that was elsewhere in Unova, it was all loose yellow sand here. He came across a trio of Pokemon cacti, who swayed and rattled their arms in some kind of dance. While they might be nice, he knew without checking for their type that they'd spook Rosa.

The next gateway building appeared at the end of a small canyon area, but he wasn't able to reach it. Right before the canyon opened up again, there was a blockade of packed dirt and rocks. It was piled three feet high in a perfectly straight line. Nate put his hands on his hips. "Look, it's the infamous waist-high fence. I'm sure it's not insurmountable this time around, though. Ruby, think you can break it?"

The Pignite strode up to the dirt pile, giving it a test prod. Something seemed to stand out to her, so she sniffed. It seemed to not be ordinary dirt, so she grunted and looked down at Patience. The Eevee pricked her ears up, then tilted her head at Nate.

"Go ahead and do what she asks," Nate said, feeling that Ruby had noticed something he hadn't.

Patience gave a small bark, then went over and began digging at the base of the dirt piles. She wasn't making a lot of progress, but she did uncover something red and brown. Unsure of what it was, she touched it with her paw, then yelped and jumped back in fright. Nate went over and cleared some more sand from the spot. Something like a crab was buried in the sand. Or, was it buried? It was connected to the dirt pile. Up close now, he could see thin lines at regular intervals.

"It's a whole bunch of Pokemon lined up and asleep," he said. Then he prodded the Pokemon's head himself. It shifted a limb, exposing a claw. However, it didn't wake up and it didn't get close to pinch him. "If I knew them better, I might try climbing over them, but... I wouldn't want to hurt them. What's got them asleep exactly like this?"

"Bzzt," Argent buzzed, floating down to see. He gave a small spark to one of them, but it didn't do anything.

"Hello, what's this now?" a voice from the other side of the pile said. Nate stood up and saw Colress and his Elgyem there. "Building fortifications?"

"No, I just got here," Nate said. "These appear to be Pokemon. But it's weird how they're straight in a line, exactly to block this path."

Colress rubbed his chin while his Pokemon queried him. "I agree. These would be Crustle, an evolved form of Dwebble. I could see them getting together in a cold place, but that would be in a bunch, not a line. Are they doing anything on your side?"

"Sleeping. The only reaction I got from one was really sluggish."

"Hmm." The scientist brought out a handheld scanner and checked over one. "Huh. Tell me, do you know about the power point rating?"

He nodded. "Yeah, that's how much energy a Pokemon has for attacking. High level attacks take up more points, in most cases."

"Pretty good," Colress said, smiling in approval. "Most people don't know the actual term for it. Pokemon tire from daily activities, but they tire much faster if they're out of PP. From the scan of this one, I can tell that it's PP exhausted. It doesn't happen often with wild Pokemon."

"But it happened to all of them, in this formation," Nate said, puzzled. He looked at the ground, but only the prints of himself and his Pokemon were there. "Are there any signs over there that they were dragged or pushed into place?"

Colress looked over the ground on his side. "Not that I can see. These sands can shift rapidly. Still, this would explain the lack of people I've run into. I came here well before dawn for some investigation. But now that I think about it, I believe I have something that may help." He pulled a storage device out of his bag and searched through its contents.

"I guess if we gave them berries or potions to recover some PP," Nate said, thinking over what could work. "But, I seem to think that they're rather pricy."

He nodded. "For this purpose, yes. Most Trainers don't go far enough from convenient Pokecenters to encounter PP exhaustion in Pokemon. But I did attempt to invent a device that could recover PP. Ah, here it is." He summoned what seemed to be a remote control device, boxy and white with a short antenna. After adjusting a dial, he warned, "It works a little too well, recovering energy to any Pokemon in an eight foot radius. Your Pokemon may be a little wound up as a result, but just have them run it off." He then pressed a button.

All of the Pokemon in the immediate area acted as if jolted by an unseen force, jumping on the spot or increasing movements (like the Elgyem's lights). This was most dramatic in the Crustles. In sync, the eight of them jumped out of the sand, their eyes looking around warily and their claws ready to strike. After a few questioning calls, the Crustles scurried off separately to find other places to hide.

"How do you get a machine to do that?" Nate asked, walking closer to Colress now that the way was clear.

"I'm afraid that you'd need a degree in physics for me to give a clear explanation," he replied, recalling the device to storage. "In particular modifications to base physics laws as standard in Pokemon energy manipulation."

"So a wizard did it."

"More or less." He looked over Nate's three Pokemon, thoughtful. "Say, what level is your Magneton there?"

"Bbzzzt?" Argent had been whirling one of his heads to discharge some power, but he paused at the question.

"Argent's level 25," Nate said. "Isn't in in your data?"

"Yes, but I haven't gone over it today. That's good; I have a Magneton of the same level. Would you be interested in trading it for..." he considered it briefly, "a Golett? Some things have come up in the study and I want to look more closely at the differences between Pokemon that are traded or not."

"Is it really smart to have two of the same Pokemon on one team?" Nate asked.

Colress shrugged. "It could be seen as not, but my study is far more important. The Golett's a Ground and Ghost type; I think it would be useful to you."

It certainly seemed like an interesting typing, although Argent was useful too. But it wasn't quite that simple. He knew Argent and Ruby were friendly with each other, and he liked the Magneton as well. "Maybe. Argent, are you all right with that?"

"Kzzz." Argent said something to Ruby, then went over and asked the Elgyem a question. It caused the alien-like Pokemon to seem puzzled, then cheerful as he replied.

"Is it important for you to ask?" Colress asked, watching the interactions curiously.

"I think it's respectful," Nate said. "And, he's been a friend too; I guess you could call it that. So I don't want to let them go without knowing they'll be okay. Seeing how your Pokemon likes you, I feel like I can trust you."

He put his hand to his chin. "You know, some Pokemon wouldn't care about being traded. I've seen it happen. But their Trainers didn't think of Pokemon like you do. This would make sense for you." He pulled a Pokeball out of his holder. "This is Signet, the Golett I'm offering. I haven't used him quite as long as Triste here, but from what I've seen, he's quiet but capable. Scientists like myself have wondered for a long time how they actually work, but maybe you can understand him better than I do."

"I don't really understand them."

Argent came back over to Nate, sparking in excitement. Now that he had three units connected by magnets, it was a little harder to tell when he was agreeing with something. But a slight nod from Ruby assured Nate of what the Magneton was trying to communicate.

"Seems he's okay with it," Nate said. "Sure, I'll take that trade."

Colress chuckled a little. "And yet, you understand them better than most. All right, let's get this done."

* * *

Nimbasa

It was like the old times, but it wasn't. Rosa had found two of her friends from when she'd lived here, girls she'd thought of as her best friends ever back then. Rikki and Amanda were still close, but Rosa hadn't heard much from them in the past couple of years. "You could've sent me an email or something," she said.

"I had some trouble with a hacker a few months back, and all my internet accounts ended up messed up," Rikki said.

"I kept meaning to send you a message," Amanda said. "But I got busy with school and cheerleading club."

Rikki nodded. "Oh yeah, you know how everybody thought the squad for Nimbasa's school was the best? It's because the coach is like a drill sergeant with us. Sometimes I think it'd be more fun to be in another squad. How's the one at your school?"

"I didn't join the cheer squad," Rosa said, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Oh, because you're too clumsy?" Rikki asked teasingly.

"No! I joined a karate class instead, and now I'm traveling around as a Pokemon Trainer." Besides, she was getting better at not tripping up so much now. At least when she was paying attention.

"Isn't karate kinda violent?" Amanda asked, concerned for her.

"Not unless you make it that way," Rosa said. "My teacher uses karate exercises as his fitness routine; he only uses it in practice or self-defense. I haven't been doing so good in keeping up with it, but I walk and bike a lot now."

"I guess you don't have to worry about gaining weight that way," Rikki said. "But I prefer being a cheerleader. It's made us a lot more popular around here."

"Is that a good reason for it?" Rosa asked, skeptical. "Especially since you don't have fun with it under the coach."

"Well I'm not about to let that wreck my reputation," she said.

Amanda clapped her hands to get their attention. "Oh, you know what Rosa? If you're a Pokemon Trainer.. hey Rikki, you think we should take her to see the mystery Pokemon?"

"What mystery Pokemon?" Rosa asked, already interested.

"Yeah, what one?" Rikki asked.

Their friend put her hands on her hips. "You know... the one in the pond, the one that's not supposed to be there."

"Oh...oh right!" Rikki grinned. "Yeah, there's this Pokemon out by the amusement park in the pond there. People keep fishing it out, but it never lets anybody catch it. What we do know is that it's not supposed to be there."

"Yeah, there's none like it around here," Amanda agreed.

"Really? But I don't have a fishing pole to get a Pokemon like that." Though with how much Curtis talked about fishing, she had been thinking about buying a pole at some point.

"Don't worry about that," Rikki said, grabbing her arm. "Come on, let's go see!"

They hurried over to the amusement park entrance. Right by the gate, there was a man-made square pond that housed a variety of fountains and lights for special occasions. A few wild Pokemon had found their way to it and made their homes there, even back when Rosa had lived here. There was a bar dividing the sidewalk from the pond, but it couldn't stop them from ducking under and going up to the water.

"People actually fish in here now?" Rosa asked.

Amanda nodded. "Yeah. A while back, they had a fishing contest but not all the Pokemon they let into the pond were caught. Then they changed the rules about fishing here because they were afraid it couldn't support all of them."

"Still, how're we supposed to find your mystery Pokemon?" Rosa knelt down and tapped the surface of the water.

"I don't think it'll take long," Rikki said. Then she cupped her hands around her mouth. "Hey Chuchu!"

"Chuchu?!" Rosa said, almost not believing that she heard that name again. That was a Pokemon she knew, one that her father had brought home to her on one of his photography trips. That had been years ago.

Then there was a splash as a Pokemon dashed up out of the pool and landed on the shore. She had blue scales and two glowing antenna tips. "Zzzbit-chu!" the Chinchou said.

"Aaa, it is you!" She grabbed Chuchu and hugged her tight. "I'm so sorry. It was a mistake due to those crazy people. Are you okay?"

Chuchu made a happy gurgling sound and nuzzled her cheek. Even though she had left the Chinchou behind, Chuchu didn't care now that Rosa was with her. It was good to know that she at least forgave her.

Still holding onto her old Pokemon, Rosa got up and smiled at her friends. "Hey you knew who she was. Thanks so much."

Amanda nodded. "Sure, we've been keeping an eye on her. She didn't want to get captured, but we had to dissuade a few people."

"Yeah, but she's one of the few released Pokemon that we were able to keep track of," Rikki said. "Mostly cause there aren't other Chinchou around here."

"I wonder if I can find my mom's old Pokemon still around," Rosa said. "I'll have to look. You want to come with me, Chuchu?"

Not that she really had to ask. They were still friends and it was better to be together.


	24. Friends, Old and New

June 18

Desert Resort

Rosa had decided to come with him out to the desert. Holding her hand in front of her eyes (because even their visors didn't keep away all the sand in the wind), she looked ahead. "Well I thought I might find one of my mom's old Pokemon around here, like I found Chuchu," she said.

"A desert Pokemon, huh?"

She nodded. "It was a Vibrava, so in here or in the sandy parts of Route 4 would make most sense."

"I've seen two of them," Nate said. "How do you mean to find one particular one?"

"Lenny!" She waited a moment, the shrugged. "It worked on Chuchu. I suppose I'll look around and fight some wild Pokemon."

They separated, but being in the same area, they crossed each other's paths often. In the southwest part of the desert, there was a cluster of large rocks that separated part of the desert from the rest. Nate looked around the area, seeing one Vibrava sitting on the side of a rock. "Lenny?" he asked.

The Vibrava tilted its head, then scurried up and vanished over the top. Maybe it was Janice's old Pokemon, maybe it wasn't. Rosa would probably have caused a more readable reaction.

For a moment, Nate had the feeling that someone behind him was watching him. He turned, but he didn't see anything other than sand and rocks. To his side, Patience was digging in the sand while Signet watched. The Golett's clay skin had lines that glowed, faint blue right now. He pointed to the Eevee a second before she barked, digging a little faster. After a moment, she picked something up with her teeth and pulled it out. She immediately offered the small scratched up container.

It seemed to be one of the Pokemon healing cartridges that were used with a spray bottle. The label was faded, but there seemed to be no leaks. Taking out his sprayer, he put in the mystery cartridge to find that it was a usable Ether.

"Hey, nice find," he said, petting Patience's head. "Thank you."

She wagged her tail and licked his hand, seemingly more grateful.

"It got lost in the sand, so we don't have to worry about stealing," he said, smiling for her. Then Nate had that feeling of being watched again. "Who's here?"

"Leeeh," Signet said, pointing up above the rocks.

"Up there?" he asked, looking in that direction. Past the sandy air, he could see something hovering in place. Probably a Pokemon. Then he saw something else.

…

The trees were coated in snow, making it difficult to fly. But his person was here, running through the trees. Had this been a good idea? He'd been trying to help him see the truth. Why did he fight it so hard?

On finding his person crouched by a frozen river, he landed in a tree. He was dressed in a brown and green coat, hat, and scarf. It made it hard to see his face, although his green ponytail still hung down his back. And it wasn't hard to see how upset he was.

'That person.'

He was looking over the frozen part of the river mouth, between Nimbasa and Driftveil. For a little while, his mind drifted to a vision of some other place and time. Maybe if he could see that, he could understand this human a little better. He tried to reach his mind out, but the vision ended before he could connect.

Down below, a small black and white Pokemon walked through the snow, seeking the human. The two of them started talking to each other, letting him watch his person's face for a little bit.

'That is him.'

'You know my friend?' There was a quick change in the memory, showing the image of the young man with green hair, standing in the desert and in what seemed to be the ghost of an ancient city..

'Yes, he was my... my friend... ugh.'

'What?'

They were standing on the balcony of a palace, the dark city sitting quietly in the background. There should have been many lights out there, people busily living their lives. And there should be... something, Nate couldn't think of what it was. Some kind of animal that should be everywhere, but wasn't.

"You're going to be leaving me," his friend said, leaning on the balcony railing. Strands of his green hair fluttered in a wind that didn't exist.

"I don't have any plans to." If anything, he was trying to speak with him more often.

"But you will. I don't mind, since you'll be safer that way." He rapped the railing, then turned to Nate. "You'll be given a mystery, some of which you might need your own memories for. But with the memory purges, that would be hard. I'm sorry."

"You couldn't understand what it meant," Nate said. His words did give him some hope. "Your mind seems clear today."

"I got some help. That is, if you're looking at it from my time. From yours, I've not." He put one of his gloved hands on Nate's forehead. "Your memories are damaged, so you might not remember everything. You certainly won't remember easily. But I thought of something that might help. It's supposed to let you see the memories of others in order to help. If I set it up right, it should help you find your own as well."

"I don't know if I want to trespass on memories," Nate said.

"Find the way to the truth," his friend said.

'Is that really him?'

…

The brightness, warmth, and grit reminded Nate of where he was. He saw the Pokemon above for a moment longer, then it flew off. But it seemed to know something. "Wait up!" he called. "How do you know him?"

"Errr?" Patience asked, tilting her head.

"Where did that Pokemon go?" he asked, looking at Signet.

The Golett pointed up again. Then he heard a Pokemon call above him. Because of his call, it had come back. It was a brightly colored bird, but it also seemed like an old symbolic sculpture whose meaning had been forgotten. It seemed like it was going to challenge him, which was something he didn't mind. After all, it was normal with Pokemon.

A few minutes later, he had to call Rosa. "Could you come meet me in the southeast part of the desert, behind some large rocks? My Pokemon got knocked unconscious."

"All of them?" she asked, shocked.

"Yeah," he said, feeling unsettled with worry as he looked over an Ultra ball in his hand. "I was after another Pokemon and got it, but... well, I need to get out of here and back to Nimbasa."

"Sure, I'll be right over," she said, hanging up so she could hurry over.

Back in the Pokecenter, he told her about what he'd seen. "I'm not really sure how to explain it," he said after. "The person this Sigilyph remembers certainly looks like my friend. From what I saw, acts similarly too. It can't really be the same person, though."

"Maybe it is, but he's a person in both worlds?" Rosa suggested. "What's his name?"

He turned over the Ultra ball, then passed it over to her. "It's a bit odd, but I'm pretty sure this is his name."

"Shouldn't it have your name since you caught it... N?" She looked at the status screen in disbelief. "Wait, your friend back at your home, he was the leader of Team Plasma here?"

"It seems that way," Nate said, shrugging. "I don't know why the status screen did that. But as soon as I saw it, I knew, N was one of the last people in my world. Maybe the last, since I left."

"It even says this Pokemon is named Rune," Rosa said. "Huh... hey, what if... but that's too weird."

"What if what?" Nate asked. "Doesn't matter if it's weird because it already is."

She tried to smile, but the thought was bothering her. "It's nothing. I'm sure it's not that. Hey, maybe Cheren might know something, at least why N's named showed up here. It'd be something."

Nate wondered what she had been thinking. There were still a lot of questions, although knowing his old friend's name was nice. Maybe in researching the N here, he might figure out something about his other world too. However, she was right in that one more question might be readily answered. He called Cheren for that.

Luckily, he managed to get Cheren on the first try. "Hi Nate," he said. "Something up?"

He nodded. "I just had a question for you. I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"It's all right; what's on your mind?"

He explained about catching Rune and how his Pokeball still noted the OT as N. "I hadn't seen or heard about anything like that before."

Cheren rubbed his chin. "Yeah, that is strange. I know a little bit about Rune. He was very devoted to N, more than usual for a Pokemon. Usually if you get a Trainer and Pokemon that have that strong of a bond, the Pokemon wouldn't be released into the wild again. But at first, N was releasing Pokemon even when he bonded with them quickly. It could be that Rune feels so strongly about him that it influenced the Pokeball registration."

"Would that be enough?"

"There hasn't been a lot of research like that, but it would make sense to me."

That sounded like a good enough explanation for now. Since he had gotten Cheren easily this time, Nate told him about how they were doing with their research into Hilda's disappearance. The main thing was about what he'd seen in Castelia and how they were almost certain that Hilda was now in Nate's home world. "They were being watched by some people Rosa called the Shadow Triad. We ran into one of them, actually. She seemed to think that I was dangerous and should be killed."

Cheren's jaw dropped a bit. "She did? In that case, it's lucky that you're alive. They're extremely skilled. But if they were following Hilda and Kyurem, they would've been challenged to do anything to them. He was protecting her and wouldn't let them get her."

"No, I think they could have," Nate said. "I don't doubt that Kyurem was strong enough, but he may have been distracted."

"What do you mean by that?"

He hesitated, not sure how much Cheren knew already. "Well... I know how it would have happened. But it's... see, I'm looking into other people's memories, even if I can't entirely control what I see. So there's some things that I'm not sure others will want me to share."

"I see. Well I have gotten information from other sources. According to Pokecenter records, she last used their services in early June in White Forest. She'd spent a few days in that area, so it's likely they were there when they disappeared. You can access the forest from the routes west and east of Nimbasa, but it's a huge area."

Nate nodded. "Then I should be able to see something around there. I'll look into that."

"That's good. Actually, the ones who told me that were Hilbert and N. I'm waiting to meet up with them right now. I'll them them about you and what you're doing. He might not be your old friend, but N might be able to help you still, so I can try to talk him into meeting with you."

"Maybe, but," he shook his head. "I'm not sure about that. Meeting with that ninja woman triggered some of my memories to come back, but also caused me to briefly forget everything. Meeting the N from this world would most likely cause a stronger reaction."

"That is a concern. I'll talk with them anyhow. We'll figure this out eventually, all of these mysteries."

Once he hung up, Nate wondered if he should have agreed to meet with N despite the risk. That might trigger more important memories; maybe it wouldn't help figuring out what happened to Hilda, but they'd be important to him. Still, he wasn't sure about how N would take meeting someone who might have a mental breakdown just on seeing him.

"Nate!" Rosa said, excited about something and grabbing his arm. "Come on, you've got to see this. I found Curtis!"

"What?" She just pulled at him, so he followed her over to a public notice board in the Pokecenter.

"There, that's it!" She pointed out a large bright flier in the center. 'PWT' was very prominent across the top of it. 'Pokemon Trainers, think you're ready to make a showing on the global stage? The Pokemon World Tournament stadium is nearing its grand opening and you have a chance to participate in the very first competition! For one day only (6/19), we will have a special trial: Defeat ten Battle Subway Doubles Battles in a row to enter one of the qualifying battles to be part of the opening tournament bracket! As a special bonus, the first winners of the trial will be granted a special day with the magnificent musical star Christoph! New or old to the subway battle scene, come test your abilities and possibly attain worldwide fame!'

"Sounds interesting, but why do you think it has anything to do with Curtis?" Nate asked. He was pretty sure that he didn't stand much of a chance winning a worldwide Pokemon battle tournament. Then again, Ruby was quite strong, Signet had turned out very capable, and Rune had wiped them both out with ease...

"I wasn't sure who he was, but I'm certain now that he's Christoph." She grinned. "And to think, I've been talking to my favorite singer this whole time! See, back when we first got here, I got a call from Curtis and he was complaining about how he was getting set up on a blind date through some others holding a double battles competition. I thought that was pretty weird, but now that I see this, it has to be him! You gotta help me win this so I can return his Xtransciever and meet him."

"Couldn't you just call him out on who he is?" Nate pointed out. "I mean, this is going to be challenging but you're pretty sure that he will be in Nimbasa tomorrow. It'd be simpler."

She frowned at him in a scolding way. "Well yeah, but he's being made to go on a date that he doesn't want to go on. It'd be better for him if it ended up being with some people that he knows. And I know that a subway trial has got to be a challenge, which is why I'm asking you to help."

"We could try, but there's no telling how tough the competition will be."

With his Pokemon healthy again, Nate decided to head over to Route 5 for a change; Rosa wanted to check something at the subway, so they split up again. There were a few groups holding battles along the road, in a style that called for three Pokemon to be out at once. Nate brought out his four Pokemon, figuring it was best to have them all out for this. As he thought, it caused a reaction as the others saw Rune again. Ruby snorted, while Patience scurried behind Signet to observe.

"It's okay, he's with us now," Nate said. "I think so, anyhow. Rune, is this about where your memory happened? I don't know this place all that well, but with the trees and the bay..."

Rune tilted his eyestalk and blinked, something that got confirmed by Ruby to a positive response. In particular, the colorful bird looked off to the northwest. Close, at least.

Nate nodded. "I see. About what you were thinking, he is the same person, and he's not at the same time. I'm not from this world, but I may be from one similar to it. I just don't remember. I can't even remember what really happened there. Anyhow, if you decided to come with me because you're looking for the N you knew, it might not work out. I'm trying to figure out myself, and also what happened to Hilda and Kyurem since that's definitely connected to why I'm here. Also, what's up with my friend Rosa, as she seems to be Keldeo without memory of previous lives. We're trying to find out a lot of things, which may or may not have anything to do with N here." He held the Ultra Ball out to Rune. "I can let you go if you like. Or you can come with us. Whatever you want."

"Kuurrroo," Rune sang, flying around.

For a moment, Nate thought he wanted to be let go. But then he felt something that was like the Memory Link, if weaker. Rune was interested in truth and if they were interested in finding out the truth of these things, then he was interested in them. While he would like to see N again, the Sigilyph agreed to go with Nate for a time.

Nate smiled at that. "Thanks. Maybe having you around can help in a less disruptive way. It'll certainly help with tomorrow." He turned to his other three Pokemon. "Rosa's roped us into joining a tournament then. Well, it's something like the qualifier for the official qualifier for the real tournament next month. I know we haven't been working together long, so it's a long shot to think of winning a tournament. But there someone we want to meet tomorrow and while we're doing that, we might as well give it our best."

Patience seemed uncertain and looked up at the others. Ruby smiled and posed with her fists, glad for a chance to show off. On the other hand, Signet put his hand to his chin, in a way that looked so thoughtful that Nate wondered if he'd run into Colress with this tournament business. Rune was still a mystery to Nate, but he didn't try to fly off or go back on his offer to stay. With at least Ruby optimistic, Patience wagged her tail and seemed willing to try.

"Right then, well..." he looked around the street. "Seems these folks like Triples and Rotation. But, it should still be good practice. Let's give it a try."

* * *

June 19

The next morning found them sitting in the subway's Gear Station, waiting for their chance to start the subway trial. Although the announcement of this had gone out only recently, there was quite a crowd in the underground circular area of the station. Mostly teenaged girls, although Nate found another guy to talk to. "My sister begged me to help her out on this, but we missed the first train," he said. "I'd prefer if they did the PWT qualifications without the date part."

"That would deter some potential competitors," Nate agreed. "My friend wanted me to help her, although I am interested to see how my team does."

The other guy nodded. "Me too."

The large Double Battles train pulled in, letting off six challengers. Fortunately, Nate and Rosa were able to get onto the train this time, in the last of the ten cars. Inside, the train didn't seem well suited for passenger traffic. There were only two benches in the back third of the car, with the rest devoted to a battle area. It had a lot of head clearance and width, so that some larger Pokemon could be used. The walls seemed quite sturdy as well.

At the front of the train car, there were a pair of female Ace Trainers, as noted by their blue uniforms. "Hello there, welcome to our special challenge!" one said. "Are you new to the subway or should we just get down to the battles?"

"We're new here, so an explanation would be nice," Nate said.

"Seriously?" She rolled her eyes. "This is for a big tournament; maybe you new kids should hold off for another day."

"Geez, you don't need to be rude about it," her friend said. "Okay, quick explanation. The battle subway system is one where you take on battles one after another until you lose. For every battle you win, you'll earn Battle Points which can be traded in for items later on. There's many styles that the subway hosts. In this particular train, it's Doubles with two Trainers, three Pokemon each."

"What I don't get is why they're using this train for the first stage PWT qualifiers," the first girl said. "I heard the opening tournament was going to be Singles with one Trainer."

"Hopefully they use that format for the next stage of qualifiers," Nate said.

"Well that settles the explaining part," the first girl said. "So pick the three Pokemon you'll use."

Nate had four Pokemon, but it was fairly easy to decide on using Ruby, Signet, and Rune; Patience would need some more focused training to catch up to the rest. Rosa had five, though. Her Chinchou would be great, but like Patience she was behind on the rest. They decided on using Bard, Medusa, and Grim.

The two Ace Trainers were tough, but Rosa and Nate were able to defeat them without having any of their Pokemon knocked out. Moving ahead to the next train car, they traded places with another set of partners to battle a pair of teen boys who loved Bug and Poison types. They were not nearly as tough. In fact, as they proceeded up the cars, the only fight that was as tough was a man and woman who both used mixed teams. Three stations stops into their ride, they had beaten nine matches and could fight the bosses of this train.

In that first car, they found Christoph there, sitting on one of the benches and doing something on a laptop. A man in a blue suit and dark sunglasses was on the bench with him, watching over them (presumably). The blond-haired boy looked up and smiled at them. "Hello there!" he said cheerily. "You'd be the second pair to make it here today, but you might be the first winners."

There was a pair of girls on the other bench, looking annoyed and disappointed. "You're going to need some luck," the annoyed one said.

"Yeah, so good luck!" Christoph said, in a cheerfully naïve tone.

"I don't think it's all luck," one of the bosses said. He had quite a uniform, consisting of a black overcoat with brown stripes, a matching hat, boots, and gloves. The overall effect was something like a fancy police officer.

"Hmm, yes," the other boss said. He had an outfit exactly like his friend, but with white instead of black. "Well done to make it here. I am Emmet, and this is my friend Ingo. We're here with a special team that we're training."

"But you're still going to find them quite a challenge," Ingo said with a smug expression.

"Fine by me," Nate said.

"Yeah, I'm Rosa, and this is my friend Nate!" she said.

"Rosa?" Christoph said in surprise. Then he glanced aside in nervousness. It seemed that she might have been right.

Fortunately for him, she was talking somewhat loudly so the others didn't notice him as much. "And we're aiming to win!"

"Good attitude," Emmet said. "Come forward and we'll begin."

The following battle was hectic. Nate sent out Ruby to start with while Rosa used Bard. Their opponents started off with a Gurder and a Gigalith, both of them managing to make the subway train shift as they appeared. Bard moved first against the Gigalith, enthusiastically slashing it with his shells. Knowing that it would most likely hang on (and it did), Nate had Ruby use a follow up attack to finish it off. But that was the only easily handled Pokemon.

Things got tough when Emmet released a Zebstrika. The zebra Pokemon was fast, able to take out Bard before Ruby landed a strong hit to take it out. Since the 'white boss' was already down two, Nate focused on taking out Emmet's third Pokemon, but then Ingo's Gurder took out Ruby. Rosa played defensively with Medusa, so Nate brought out Rune to power through the rest of the battle.

"Great job," Emmett said, tipping his hat to them. "You two work well together, but you'll come against each other in the next qualifier round. Could I get your IDs to put you down for it?"

If Rosa decided to join the next round, then they would. But that might not happen. "Sure, when's it going to be?" Nate asked, taking out his ID card.

"On the twenty-fourth," Ingo said. "You'll be sent an email with more information closer to the date."

Emmett nodded, taking his card. "And if you win that round, you'll be sent as one of the two representatives of the Unova Battle Subway. That alone will earn you prestige."

"I see." If they were acting as representatives, why didn't they pick them from Subway regulars? But maybe that's who they were trying to attract, only the bonus for today would attract others.

"That's going to be a tough competition," Rosa said.

"You're also the first winners against us today, so you get to spend the rest of the day with our guest celebrity here," Ingo said, gesturing towards Christoph. "I'm sure that'll be exciting."

"Oh yeah!" Rosa said.

"Great job," Christoph said, walking up to them now. "I hope I won't get in your way."

"We're just friends," Nate said, taking back the two cards from Emmett. "And you'll probably be with her most of the time, if you don't mind Curtis. I mean, Christoph." He smiled. "Sorry about that, was thinking of someone else."

He had a genuine smile on his face at that. "No problem."


	25. Cold Shock

June 19

Nimbasa

Getting back through Gear Station was some trouble. Curtis had a bodyguard with him, but they still had to get past the nearly two dozen other fans that had come hoping for a date with their idol. On coming out, a few of them groaned as they realized they didn't have a chance now. Others cheered on seeing him. "Hey Christoph, could you talk with me for a moment?" one of the girls said after jumping out of her seat and running over.

"Sorry, but ah, I'm going to be hanging out with Rosa today," he said. "Thanks for coming though! Maybe you can still make it into the Pokemon World Tournament."

"Please let us through," the bodyguard said in a firm but polite tone.

"Let's go before they really start making a fuss," Curtis said quietly to Rosa.

Fortunately, the bodyguard was able to dissuade the other fans from following them out immediately. Once they were out in the streets of Nimbasa, they brought much less attention to themselves. Rosa pulled the silver and black Xtransceiver out of her bag, where she had put it in easy reach this morning. "So, this is yours, right?"

"Right, thanks for getting it back to me," he said, taking it back even though he had a similar and newer model on his wrist. "It's not much now, but I appreciate your integrity."

"What is that?" the bodyguard asked.

"It's the phone I lost a few weeks back," Curtis said. "Although it's funny, that you two would end up being the ones to win today."

"Well we had to try," Rosa said. "So what do you want to do?"

He shrugged. "Whatever you'd like." After the bodyguard shifted his glasses, Curtis hastily added, "Within reason, of course. I do have a place reserved for lunch, and they're expecting me to have guests."

"Are they okay with having Pokemon eat there too?" Rosa asked. "Because we always let our Pokemon share."

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure they'll be fine with it. Other than that, I didn't have plans."

Rosa shrugged. "Well I dunno either. We'd probably be training our Pokemon at the Desert Resort. Unless you had something to do, Nate?"

"I wanted to check in on the Avenue, but that was pretty much it for me too," Nate said. "Especially if we're going to get further with this tournament business."

"I haven't been in Desert Resort before," Curtis said. "Sounds interesting; I could probably work on my team too. What's this about an avenue?"

"It's on the way, just over there," Rosa said, pointing out the building. "Let's go after we stop by the Pokecenter."

It had only been a few weeks since Nate had taken over Join Avenue, but it had already changed to a more bustling marketplace. The smell of fresh muffins filled the air from Violet's bakery, which had a number of customers chatting and eating near it. Next to her stall, Melissa and her grandmother had various accessories for Pokemon and humans on display. Along with the vending stall (where the two boys were trying to convince someone into buying a Patch Hat), there was now a florist booth, a berry seller, and a book exchange.

Before they got far, a man approached them. It took a moment, but Rosa recognized him as the owner of the store on Route 4. "Good morning Nate. I'm glad I ran into you. I just wanted to pass along thanks from my friends about your offer to let them start small businesses here. It helps a lot, especially when compared to what I had to go through to open mine."

"No problem," Nate said. "I hope they do well here."

He nodded. "Me too. Oh, and remember that ancient hymnal we talked about?"

"Ancient hymnal?" Curtis asked, interested.

"Yes, I still have my copy with me," Nate said.

The store owner scratched his head. "I hardly believe it myself, but... we finally got a hold of an expert in ancient studies who can translate the old texts and he confirmed that it was a hymnal. You even got the meaning of the songs right. It's really odd, because it's an old language of Unova that few people can read now. He just wasn't sure how to figure out the musical scoring."

Nate really did know that language? "Wow, how'd you learn that language?" Rosa asked Nate. Although he probably couldn't say.

As expected, he shrugged. "I don't know. Who was the expert you talked to?"

The man didn't seem comfortable with that question. "Sorry, but there's special circumstances... I can't tell you who he is right now. But he was interested that there was a young man who could read it. If things change and he wants to meet you, I'll get a hold of you."

Nate was disappointed. "Really? Does it have to do with...?" he hesitated, scratching his head. Somehow, the man seemed to know what he was talking about and nodded. "I see. Well... I think I'd like to meet him, if possible. Let me know."

"Certainly."

After saying goodbye to him, Curtis spoke up again. "What's this about an ancient hymnal?"

"It's a book I bought from him a while back. You want to see it?" Nate pulled out his storage device.

"Sure, I'll be careful with it. It sounds interesting, a book of old songs from Unova." He smiled sheepishly. "Probably not what I normally sing, but I'd still like to see it."

"You do have music training," Nate said, making the book materialize. "Maybe you can make some sense of it, or figure out what the melodies could be. Let's see if we can get a table at Violet's booth; maybe I'll change one of these over to a sitting area soon."

For a moment, Rosa felt a little jealous that Nate had gotten Curtis' interest just because of an old book. But it did have to do with music, and if he was interesting, it was good to let them talk about it. "You guys want to get some muffins from her? They smell really good."

"I don't know if I should be having muffins," Curtis said, looking over the glass display case. "But yeah, they do smell good. Maybe one with fruit? It'll be kind of healthy."

"If we're heading out to Desert Resort, you might need one for the energy to walk around that place," Nate said.

With that in mind, they agreed to the idea and Rosa went to the counter to order for them. Violet was working at the counter, wearing her brown hair in a yellow hairnet with a cute ribbon bow on top. "Oh, hey there!" she said, smiling. "Mom, it's Rosa."

"Hello," she said, waving a hand briefly as she was glazing some muffins fresh from the oven. "Have you heard from Hugh yet?"

"No, not yet," Rosa said, feeling briefly annoyed. "I'd like to, and ask him what he's up to lately. But I don't know if he's following the League challenge. If not, he might be somewhere else entirely." To distract herself from that, she looked over what was on display. There were some tempting chocolate chip muffins there, but that wasn't what Curtis wanted. They also had some cinnamon apple, orange spice, and carrot cake muffins, along with a basket of various poffins.

Violet smiled. "He sent me a text saying that he was all right, a few days back. But we haven't heard anything else out of him. But we have been quite busy since mom got here. I've never made so many muffins at once, but with the amount of people coming in to buy, I don't think there'll be many left over."

"Well that's good," Rosa said. "How're they liking them?"

She grinned. "Great so far! It's just muffins, poffins, and sometimes pretzels now, but I'm looking into trying some fancier things. Did you want something? I've got some bottles of milk, but the boys over there sell a lot more drinks, and the batch we just pulled out are lemon poppy."

"Oo, lemon poppy sounds good," Rosa said. "I'll have one of those, if it's okay. And, um," she glanced back at the rest, looking over that book. "I think two cinnamon apple and a carrot cake; that should take care of everybody."

"Okay... oh, is that Christoph over there?" Violet's ears turned pink. "Really him, or just somebody that looks like him?"

"Don't make a big fuss, but it really is him," Rosa said in a whisper as she leaned over the counter.

"Eep," Violet squeaked, putting her hands to her mouth. "Oh my. I hope he likes them. Um, we'll get that lemon poppy glazed for you, oh wait, better ring that up." She put the order into the computer.

After paying for them and waiting on Violet to get the four muffins ready, Rosa thanked her and took them back to the table. Nate and Curtis were flipping through the hymnal, glancing over the songs. "Here, I hope you like apple muffins," Rosa said, passing the muffins out.

"That sounds good," Curtis said, nodding in thanks. "By the way, is that your friend over there? You were talking for a while."

"Yeah, I've known her for a while," she said, sitting down as well. "Have you figured out any of the songs?"

"The notations certainly is different than I'm used to," Curtis said, looking at the book again. "Most of the world has been using the Kalos style of musical notation for three hundred years at least and... hang on, could you go back a page?"

"What'd you see?" Nate said, turning it back. He looked over the carrot cake muffin he had, then carefully peeled one part of the wrapper away to take a bite out of it.

Curtis put his finger on the title of the song, his lips moving while he thought. "Is that... All Taine Pa Shira?"

"It's most likely pronounced 'Auel Taine Pah Shira', but yes. It's something like 'Song of Loyalty to Shira', Shira being an old city founded by those who worshiped Reshiram. Or it might be better called an anthem, given the sense of nationality it has."

He nodded. "I always heard it pronounced the other way. But, that's a well known tune, used for all kinds of songs. I've used it myself a few times, since it's easy to adapt to. It's just, I've never seen a copy of the original song."

"So if you could figure out how to sing that song, you'd know what the notes mean?" Rosa asked.

"Maybe. As I said, it's pretty simple. I'd just need to figure out how to pronounce these words."

"I can help with that," Nate said. They spent some time eating the muffins and discussing how to sing the words there.

When they were done, Curtis sent his bodyguard to get some water. While he was gone, Curtis surprised her by touching her hand. "Hey Rosa... sorry I haven't said much. But, well, I'm in public still and I have to keep up being Christoph right now. The company's strict on that and I know this guy reports on my behavior and actions to my manager."

"That's pretty crazy," she said.

"You get used to it." He shrugged. "They got after me the other day for sneaking off to talk with you, so I have to be careful today. I'm probably pushing things with this old hymnal, but I should be able to explain that away. But thanks. Do you mind if I get your number so we can stay in contact?"

"No, I'd like that," she said, activating her Xtransceiver. If they worked quickly, and they did, they could avoid the bodyguard noticing the exchange. Nate even kept an eye on the crowd for them.

By the time the bodyguard came back, Curtis was back to his falsely cheerful personality of Christoph. Rosa wondered just how false it was. After getting a drink of water, he stood up and held the book. "Okay, I'll give this a shot," he said. "Might not be perfect, but wow, it's probably been centuries since this song was last sung properly. Here we go." He took a few deep breaths, then started singing.

It didn't take long for those in Join Avenue to quiet down out of respect for the song. The words still made no sense to Rosa, but Curtis managed to put feeling into the song that was understandable. With Nate's translation of the song being a pledge of honor and pride in a home city, she could notice as Curtis kept that in mind. Maybe even those who had no idea what the words meant could tell what the song was about hearing it.

When he was done, people around them cheered. Curtis waved to them, then closed the book and handed it back to Nate. "I like that. Almost seems like a pity what the tune's used for now."

"The pronunciation might be a little off, but I don't think much of anyone would care," Nate said, putting the hymnal away. "Nice singing."

He smiled as they got out of their seats as well. "Thanks, it was fun."

"Maybe you could do a recording of old songs like that," Rosa said, excited at the thought of it. It would be different, but more interesting in that way.

"I don't know if the studio would agree to that," Curtis said. "At least, not now. But it'd be interesting to do sometime in the future if the experts can put it to modern notation. I'm sure once they recognize which tune that one is, they can handle it easily."

Rosa clapped her hands together. "Right! So are we ready to head out to...?" and then everything seemed to shift around her. Everything changed, like a gale of winter air through a just opened door, or if the whole building suddenly got punted into the bay. It only lasted few seconds, but it would have knocked her off her feet if the bodyguard hadn't been alert enough to catch her.

"Rosa?" Nate and Curtis asked in concern, coming around the table to them.

"I, I'm okay," she insisted, grabbing the bodyguard’s arm to make sure she had her balance. But her legs felt like jelly, so she dropped back into her seat. "What was that just now? An earthquake?"

"Uh, no," Curtis said, puzzled. "I didn't feel anything."

"I did," she said, gripping the sides of her chair. Things didn't seem quite stable, although not as badly as before. "It was... I dunno, like someone suddenly jerked a rug from underneath my feet. Or like, it was really really cold for a second. Shocked me with that abrupt drop." She rubbed her arm. "It's normal again, though."

"Nothing like that happened, to us," Nate said. "Did she feel any different?"

The bodyguard took her wrist, checking her out. "Her skin was cold. Still a little cool now, but almost normal."

"I don't know what happened, sorry," Rosa said, looking down and feeling embarrassed. "I'm okay, I'm pretty sure of that. But something's not right."

* * *

Neo Plasma headquarters

When Colress had said that he could have anything he wanted, he wasn't kidding. Triste had pointed out a bluk and nomel poffin glazed lightly with icing, since that smelled most interesting (soft and sweet and tart and bready, it was also the best thing he'd ever tasted). Colress had bought a dozen of that kind when Triste had only been expecting a single poffin. It had been a while since he finished them off, but even now, the Elgyem felt happy enough that he could handle anything. Anything!

Even Ghetsis in an imposing grumpy mood, thumping along the halls with that cane of his. He had a problem with Colress, so Triste watched carefully in case Ghetsis tried throwing things again. "Why did you order them to hold off on drugging Kyurem for the night? He is still a danger for breaking out."

"If he works up the motivation for it," Colress said confidently, almost cheerfully. "I've timed this precisely; there's a suitable margin of error between when enough of the drug is worn off for my work to be done and when it is too much for safety. You see, I've got another method of controlling him to test out, but I don't need tranquilizers interfering with my readings or mixing with this." He held up one of the emblems, which now had a hair from Reshiram and a hair from Zekrom securely attached to it.

"You will have the drugs ready in case this doesn't work?" he asked, not quite willing to acknowledge Colress' work. That annoyed Triste, but even his good mood wasn't enough to face off against that human.

"Of course, but I need to get in to do my work within this time period," Colress said. "And we don't need you taking a risk by going in too."

"Fine." With that, Ghetsis would allow them by.

Triste had been brought into Kyurem's enclosure before, but usually when the dragon was asleep. Outside of the transparent barrier, it was difficult to feel his presence (aside from the cold; it was always cold here, sometimes misty when it was warm outside). Inside, there was a quiet presence even though Kyurem took up much of the space inside. Triste always felt deeply saddened if he looked too closely at the dragon, but there was also a feeling like having cotton stuffed in his thoughts. It seemed to be the effect of the drugs they used on Kyurem, since that feeling wasn't as strong this morning.

Most of the time, Kyurem didn't stir when Colress was in his enclosure. Today, the dragon moved his head to better look at them, then growled sleepily. "Who are you?"

"Awake today, hmm?" Colress went right up to Kyurem's head, using the scanner on him.

Triste looked up through the glass and saw that Ghetsis, one of the Shadows, and a few of the regular Plasma members were now watching. He turned back and drifted closer to Kyurem. "We're scientists," he said.

Kyurem's nearest eye turned to him. His expression didn't change much, but he seemed further confused, speaking in a way most humans wouldn't understand. "One of you? What world are we on? I..." he shuddered, causing Colress to pause in his work. "I can't think straight, what happened?"

"Is it like your mind's full of cotton?" Triste asked. "That's normal, I believe."

"Where's my siblings? I can almost feel them. I had something to tell them." At this point, Colress put gloves on his hands and pushed down on Kyurem's head. Kyurem didn't resist. "It was..."

"What was it you had to tell your siblings? I saw them recently."

"I'm being blocked off from them, that must be it. But why... why am I even talking to you? I just can't think." He winced when Colress started attaching one emblem to the back of Kyurem's head.

"It was something you had to tell your siblings," he said, hoping that would remind him of what they'd been talking about.

"They need to talk to the guardians of Sinnoh," Kyurem said. "About something that was lost. I had it in mind a second ago. There was something else they want now, but I don't think that's actually lost. We did find six of them, but the most dangerous one is still hiding. I lost her..." His front paws tensed up and the icy parts of his body briefly shone. "I should not have missed that!"

"Calm down," Colress said in a soothing tone, still at his work.

Kyurem wasn't even paying attention to him. "I let my heart get the better of me and I failed in an obvious moment of danger. Was it really worth..."

"Kyurem," Triste said, shaken by burst of grief from the dragon. He wasn't sure what was going on, having trusted that Colress knew what was happening. Why did they even have Kyurem hidden like this? Triste just knew that he'd get in trouble if he let others know.

Then there was nothing and it chilled Triste even more. The Elgyem looked around, but there didn't seem to be any big changes. Colress was still there, as were Kyurem and the ones watching them from the outside. Yet, his psychic sense told him that something had changed and that was the sudden presence of nothing. Triste looked back to Kyurem and noticed that he was no longer tense. He also wasn't sad or confused, which was strange considering the strength of his emotions a moment ago. Wondering if something was wrong, he looked deeper into Kyurem's mind.

It was the depths of space, absent of anything. No emotions, no thoughts, no personality. Nothing. It was to the point that the nothing held immense power and potential, far deeper than that which Kyurem had before. For a moment, the nothingness obliterated Triste's own thoughts and feelings, almost his whole self.

He pulled his attention away from Kyurem, immediately going over to Colress for reassurance. "What happened to his mind?" he murmured, pulling both hands on his Trainer's shoulder.

However, Colress was focused on his work. He took the other emblem in hand once his second scanning was done. "I'm going to need better equipment to detect anything, but that's to be expected. Kyurem, stand up. It's time to see if this truly works."

The dragon's movements were still sluggish from the drugs, but he stood up quietly. Although he was so close, there was no threat of him knocking them over. Triste noticed that the emblems had traces of power active from the hairs.

"Good so far," Colress said. "Touch my nose with one of your front paws."

Kyurem wasn't thinking, but he reached over and gently touched Colress on the nose with one of his nails. The nothing took shape while Colress was speaking, turning into the action. Once it was over, the shape was lost.

Colress was pleased. "You even picked up on my unspoken desire not to be frostbit. Between the sands from places of power and the hairs from your siblings, you can't resist turning to your original state, just an empty shell. And the emblem should keep you that way. Now I just need to find some way to stall Ghetsis to complete my own studies." His voice trailed off into thoughts at the end, thoughts that echoed through Kyurem.

Realizing the truth, Triste put his head on Colress' shoulder. "His soul is gone. I... I made that possible..."

* * *

Desert Resort

Despite what happened that morning, Rosa felt fine for the rest of the day. Mostly. There was still that nagging sense in the back of her mind that something really bad had happened in the morning, but not to her. When she couldn't explain what was wrong, she felt embarrassed to admit it. Not even the Pokemon with them had noticed anything. Sure, they were concerned about her, but nothing suggested that they could tell what was going on either.

She tried to have fun with Curtis and Nate, which mostly worked. They spent most of the day in Desert Resort, at the usual Pokemon training and looking around at the old ruins. Curtis seemed to be enjoying himself, especially on being encouraged to let his Pokemon roam out of their Pokeballs for the day. Although, his Pokemon didn't seem sure about running around the desert like the rest. His Spiritomb was a cluster of strange spirits linked to a small stone, which she used to hop around in the sand and watch the rest.

And his Snorlax didn't seem inclined to move at all, having to spend half a minute rolling onto his feet if he was lying down in the sand (which he loved to do). "You can't really get a Snorlax to run willingly," Curtis said, leaning against the huge Pokemon. "But I know I can trust him to swat away aggressive Pokemon while I'm fishing."

"He's really soft," Rosa said, surprising the Snorlax with a hug. He widened his eyes for a second, but then smiled sleepily and took another nap.

At lunch, they took a break back in Nimbasa to get lunch at a really fancy restaurant. The food was worth the price, although it was mostly amusing to Rosa. While they allowed them to share the tables with their Pokemon and give them small meals, the restaurant clearly expected pampered Pokemon pets, only one or two per customer. Not a motley crew of battle Pokemon who liked to have fun. Rosa had to keep Bard from playing with the fancy pepper grinder and Nate nearly missed Ruby and Medusa dueling with spoons because he was keeping an eye on Patience (who had her eye on the shiny silverware and salt shaker). But they had a fun time, especially Curtis.

Around mid-afternoon, Rosa, Curtis, and the bodyguard were near a lone tower standing out of the sand. While she was using Grim to battle a Krokorok (it was pretty easy for her to win here, except if she came across a Maractus, freaky things), she noticed a Vibrava sitting on the tower wall and watching them. Was that the one she'd been looking for all this time? Once the Kokorok decided to flee, she ran a few steps towards the Vibrava. "Lenny, is that you?"

The Vibrava twisted his head at that question, seeming to recognize the name. But when she tried to come closer, he took off, flying into the sandy wind. If that was him, he wasn't coming back like Chuchu. Maybe he felt betrayed; that made her feel bad.

"Is there someone else here?" Curtis asked, coming up from behind her.

"It's a Vibrava," she explained. "My family released a few Pokemon back when Team Plasma was going strong, then we moved away from here so we never saw them again. I think that's one of my mom's; I've been able to find one of mine, so I hoped to find others. But Lenny doesn't seem to want to come back."

"That's sad. But, can't really force him to come back if he doesn't want to."

"Christoph!" a call came through the wind. But it had turned into a stronger gust, with more sand particles flying around.

"Uh-oh, did we lose him?" Curtis said, looking towards the voice. But he didn't seem all that eager to call back.

Feeling mischievous, she grabbed his hand. "Hey, let's really lose him."

"Huh?" he asked, not sure if he should do that.

"Yeah, shhh." She waved Grim towards the tower, then took off running towards the entrance. When they got found, they could always say they were getting out of the sand gusts.

Inside the tower, they found a respite from the gusts, but not the sand. It was everywhere: spilling down the walls from cracks overhead, covering the floor, sliding down the stairs. The stairs up were blocked off with a rope and a warning that the structure was unsafe. But if the door in wasn't blocked by a sign, they were probably okay being in here as long as they didn't go up. Grim came flying in from a doorway above while the Spiritomb hopped in after them.

"He's probably going to figure it out quickly," Curtis said. Then he laughed. "I almost don't believe that I did that. I usually have to bribe them to be alone if I'm anywhere outside and in public."

"Well he lost you in the first place, because of the sand," she said. "We just made you even more lost."

He nodded, flipping up the screen to his Xtransciever. "Yeah, but... how nice, I don't have a signal. Maybe we can stay lost a bit longer." He ran his hand through his hair, brushing out sand particles. "Was it just luck that you ended up winning the date or did you know?"

"We knew you'd be there," Rosa said. "I almost didn't want to do it, since I thought the subway competition was going to be harder than it was. I mean, it was still pretty hard and I don't know if I could handle it on my own. But anyhow, I knew you weren't looking forward to this, so I talked Nate into giving you a chance to be with some friends instead."

Curtis looked relieved to hear that. "That's good. I mean, it isn't much of a break from normal, but I haven't felt all that stressed today, because it's you guys."

"You really think they're trying to run you into the ground?"

He nodded. "As far as they're concerned, my career is just about over. They have me recording a new album, but I can't stand most of the songs on it and it seems weak overall. I haven't been able to talk them out of it and it's really been eating at me how they want to end it all on a flop. But when I complain about it, they get after me for breaking character, not being the cheerful and ditzy Christoph who shouldn't be noticing stuff like that. I'm not sure what to do at all lately."

"Well you shouldn't let them do that to you," Rosa said. "I've loved all your work and it's horrible to think that you might be ruined with a really bad album."

"It'll kill any chance I have of a singing career any time in the future, that's for sure," Curtis said. He sighed and shook his head.

Rosa looked at the doorway, but there was no sign of the bodyguard there. Besides, the Spiritomb was sitting by the doorway, watching. Maybe she would warn them. It gave her an idea. "Well, why don't you run away? They can't release the album if you don't finish it, right?"

"Maybe, but I don't know," he said. "I'd have to get past my own security and the manager, and then what would I do if I got away?"

She put her hands on her hips. "You could come travel with us, or do whatever you want. If they really don't care, then you'll be free to live however you want. If they do come after you, you can at least insist that they take your thoughts seriously or you won't cooperate again."

"You think they could take me seriously with that?"

"Riiiiaaa," the Spiritomb said in a warning tone, right before they heard the bodyguard calling them again.

"Yeah," Rosa said. "Show them you're serious."

He didn't seem sure what to say, rubbing his eyes after a second. "I.. I'll call you another day. I think about it." Then he went to the doorway. "We're in here! Where'd you go?"

It had to be continued another day, since the bodyguard didn't give them another chance like that for the rest of the day.


	26. Dragon of Truth

June 22

Nimbasa

It was another warm day; Nimbasa as busy as usual this morning. Nate had started training in the Big Stadium to prepare for the Gym and the qualifying PWT matches. While he wasn't expecting anything to come of it, the tournament could be a nice experience. If he timed it right, he could beat the Nimbasa Gym in plenty of time to move to Driftviel with a few weeks to spare in preparing for the tournament and the Gym there. And the tournament would surely have many people there, maybe even someone who knew something about Hilda and Kyurem. It could be worth observing even if neither of them could participate.

Close to noon, players and fans started leaving the field, in preparation of the stadium being given over to the football players to go through their daily training regiment. Nate would have left himself, but then a guy a few years older than him stopped him. He had short dark brown hair and wore a dark blue version of those Patch Hats. "Hey, you're that new Trainer the League's been talking about lately, aren't you. Nate?"

He shrugged while Patience seemed unsure if she wanted to go over to sniff this newcomer. "I don't know if they're talking about me, but I am Nate. What is it?"

"I want to see if you're as good as they say. Care to battle me?"

He seemed a little too dramatic for the situation, so Nate simply nodded. "Sure thing. Come on Patience, show your stuff."

She barked happily and hopped into position in front of him. Even though her levels were getting better matched to the rest of the team now, the Eevee still lacked in power. But she was trying her best and Nate wanted to encourage that.

Bringing up an Ultra ball, the other guy nodded. "Right, we'll take you on then. Come Reshiram!"

A giant white dragon was released into the stadium, catching the attention of everyone who was left. With the air shimmering with heat around him, Reshiram gave a brief roar in challenge. Patience immediately lost all the spirit she'd gotten by winning several battles today, dropping her ears back and quivering.

"What do you mean by this?" Nate asked sharply, kneeling down and snapping his fingers. "Patience, come to me." She whined and immediately came back so he could pick her up.

"You're going to give up just like that?" the guy asked, not accusingly though. Reshiram stood up straight and didn't seem all that hostile. "A serious Trainer like you?"

"Because I am serious, yes," he said. "I don't care enough about pride to make Patience fight a battle she doesn't want to. It's not worth it to battle you two."

"You would be her friend with an attitude like that." He tipped his hat. "Then you are like they say. Sorry about that. I'm Hilbert. We actually wanted to talk with you."

But they wanted to test him before they spoke. Nate wondered about that. "All right. Is it about Hilda and Kyurem?"

"Yes, exactly." Hilbert walked over while a white glow surrounded Reshiram. He reappeared as a tall muscular man wearing a fur-trimmed white and red overcoat. The dragon's hair was long and white, highlighted and tipped in a fiery red. "They aren't going to leave the stadium open much longer, so how about we go elsewhere?"

"Sure thing." Patience was still spooked, so Nate kept a hold of her until she calmed down. But the whole while, Reshiram's gaze was oddly harsh towards Nate even if he seemed to tolerate him.

Although he had spoken with Cheren, Hilbert wanted to know directly from him why he was looking for Hilda. Nate didn't mind telling him. Since Hilbert was accompanied by someone who knew the truth instinctively, Nate wasn't going to be ridiculed or disbelieved for telling his story straight. Hilbert then explained how they had lost contact with Hilda last summer, but didn't believe it was serious until returning to Unova.

"The part we still can't explain is why Reshiram and Zekrom can't sense Kyurem, or didn't know that he was in trouble," Hilbert said. "We were around Hoenn for much of that time, but that distance shouldn't have mattered."

"I wouldn't know anything about that," Nate said. "I don't even have a lot of control over finding these visions. They just happen when the conditions are right, so I haven't seen much that could explain that."

"That's normal for Memory Link," Reshiram said. Then his expression turned cooler as he asked, "So why do you think Kyurem wouldn't have noticed a dangerous situation?"

At his feet by the bench they were sitting on, Patience whimpered and crouched down. Nate leaned over and scratched her head. "Well... I'm not sure if I should say something about it."

"Why not?"

"Calm down," Hilbert said, apparently worried about the dragon's attitude as well. "It would help if you told us Nate, at least why you don't want to tell it."

"Well..." he recalled a conversation he'd had with Rosa, that there had been rumors that both of the young Kings had feelings for Hilda. He wasn't sure how that'd go over. Maybe it would be okay if, "I think I can tell Reshiram. But I'm reluctant to tell anyone else about it." It caused anxiety to crawl up his spine. Reshiram probably wouldn't hurt him, but the harsh mood he was in felt like a threat.

"If that's how you feel," Hilbert said, shrugging "You might want to head over to that fence over that that blocks off access to the bay. There'd be less people over there to overhear."

"That'll work," Nate said. For a moment, Patience didn't seem sure what to do. She was reluctant to stay around Reshiram, but also reluctant to stay near Hilbert. She ended up following Nate, sticking close to his feet.

"Fine," Reshiram agreed, following him over there.

Over by the fence, Nate told him more specifically about what he'd seen back in Castelia. "I know I saw that vision specifically from the vantage point of the Shadow Triad," he finished with. He put one hand on the fence, then pointed up at the three story building beside them. "Like, they would've been right up there, comparatively speaking. Kyurem didn't notice them. He thought he was detached enough that he only cared to see her happy, but I wonder about that. Certainly if they put her in danger, he might've done something reckless."

For a few moments, Reshiram didn't say anything. He looked over the waters of the bay, seeming conflicted. Then he sighed. "By my own feelings... I know you're right. I know you speak the truth about what you saw. While it was from a memory, that's what happened, I feel it. And yet, I don't want to believe you. I don't want to believe that my brother could have been careless like that."

"I don't know if careless is the right term," Nate said.

"Right, he may have cared too much. That may explain..." he lowered his head, thinking. "I don't like that I don't know enough about what's happening. But this is a theory, from a story. One time, a long time ago, we did not trust humans. They had hurt Pokemon, Pokemon had hurt them... it was a time when wars were common. Very very long ago; I was not even myself at that time, as I was part of a more powerful being.

"Then, one of the immortal Pokemon decided to take on human form, infiltrate their society, learn from them, and figure out ways to give advantages to Pokemon. It doesn't matter which one I tell of, for there are several stories like this. The immortal was distant and detached at first, believing humans to be the enemy. But it met many good people among the humans. Like with Pokemon, there were only a few that were truly bad, only a few that wanted the wars and power. Befriending the good people, the immortal's personality grew but its power slowly declined.

"Another immortal came to visit the spy and noticed how its power had deteriorated. The friend tried to convince the spy to give up on the mission and return to Pokemon, return to normal. But the spy refused. It had grown to like human society. In time, it even fell in love with one of the humans. The immortal couldn't be with its love as it was, even with the reduction in its power. So it willingly sacrificed more of the power it had as an immortal, becoming a mortal human so fully that it almost forgot what it truly was."

"Was that what he was hinting at to Hilda?" Nate asked.

"I would assume so," Reshiram said. "And in the end, the human died, but its soul was still immortal. It was reborn in its true form. However, its previous life had left an irreversible mark on the immortal's soul. It never quite regained the power it had originally had. But for its experience as a mortal, it was happy and didn't care."

"And that happened to several immortal Pokemon?"

He nodded. "Yes, I know some of them. Zekrom and I never went that far in our relationships with humans, but we too have been changed by your kind. That's why, although my power and origin are truth, there are a few times when even I don't want to believe something I know to be true. My contact with humans gave me a personality deeper than I would have if I never interacted with them. But then Kyurem never had the same level of human contact that we did. This has all been new to him and if he grew enough that he fell in love, he would have been totally blind to how it was changing him. If my theory is correct, it's our own feelings, all three of us, that have been interfering with our connection. But three days ago, something changed. It had something to do with my brother, although I still can't tell what."

Nate thought about it. That would have been the nineteenth. "Did it have to do with some sudden change that only you noticed? Like an earthquake, or some cold shock?"

"Yes. How did you know that?" He was watching Nate again, but not as harsh as before.

"I didn't feel anything, but my friend Rosa did," he said. "It was... a little before nine in the morning, I think. Something just hit her out of the blue and she couldn't explain it. She insisted that she was fine, but she's been unsettled ever since."

"But why would she notice it? Not even mortal Pokemon would."

"We think that she's Keldeo, as a human. That's what her parents have said, at least."

Reshiram pushed himself off leaning on the fence. "Hmm, perhaps. I could tell you for certain if I met her. Where is she?"

"I'm pretty sure she's out at Desert Resort." He flipped open his Xtransciever. "It's past noon anyhow. Let me call her and we can get lunch together."

* * *

It was early in the afternoon and River found herself walking next to Reshriam. It wasn't something she would have expected while she was living on her own. Now? It seemed completely reasonable because of who Rosa was.

"I could force your memory back, but I don't like doing that if there's other options," Reshiram said as they walked into Join Avenue. "You should find places that matter to you. There are some areas of the bay that should have worked. If not, you could try the waterfalls near Opelucid, near here, or even the river's source streams. But those last areas would be quite some ways out of Unova."

"Maybe when Grim evolves and becomes really good at flying," Rosa said. "What I really don't get is why I can't understand Pokemon like Hilbert and you can. I think I heard someone once..."

"I gave her a warning in the middle of a battle," River said.

Reshiram gave her a nod of acknowledgment, then asked Rosa, "When did you think you heard one of us?"

"It was in the middle of a battle, one I was fighting myself with this sword." She bit her lip. "I don't want to get into that again, not any time soon."

"You may have a divide between the surface of your soul and the deeper parts," Reshiram said. "You apparently chose this way to give yourself time to heal from what had been done to you. In that case, your outer personality is there to protect you. When you manage to act on a different level, like in that fight, your proper abilities will become active when needed."

"So I need to make a connection to myself or something?" She shook her head. "I don't get it. What am I even supposed to be doing? Sometimes this makes me feel frustrated because back before my mother said anything, I wasn't confused at all about who I was. Now I'm going back and forth, about maybe this or maybe that. I hope I do remember something soon, so it's a little more concrete."

River noticed that both of them were troubled; they did their best not to appear so, but she could see the stress cracks in their auras. In Reshiram, it was particularly strong. She wished she could help them, but wasn't sure what to do about it. Maybe help them solve something? "Do you think you might trigger her memories if you called her Keldeo?" she suggested to Reshiram.

He nodded slightly to it, then put his hand on Rosa's shoulder. "I hope you do too, Keldeo."

Not only did it cause a reaction in Rosa's aura, but she visibly trembled. "Ah, that gives me the shivers," she said. "But it sounds right."

A tan blur rushed their way; Patience skidded to a stop in front of them, part of her fur wet and slick while the rest was puffed up. "River! Help me!" She ran behind the Riolu and tried to hide behind her.

"What's going on?" she asked, puzzled at the interruption.

Patience scrunched herself up small. "The-the loud woman is trying to give me a bath."

Rosa waved over to Nate. "Hey, what's going on here?"

Nate was watching over a group of people and Pokemon in three empty slots of Join Avenue. They were caught up in lots of activity and fur. "Hey, sorry I had to leave lunch so quickly." He pointed to the booths. "You know how I was advertising for a groomer to set up in Join Avenue? I thought I would get a chance to talk to the ones who answered it later this afternoon, but the office set them up for now. I had them work on grooming some of my Pokemon to see how they did, Hilbert's too since he was here. Patience didn't take too well to it. Come here, it'll be okay."

"What if she drowns me?" Patience asked, not budging.

"Don't be silly," River said. "It's just a bath, and they're going to take good care of you."

"B-but it is a bath," she said.

River slapped her forehead. "It's nothing to be scared of. They're just going to make sure you're clean, like when Nate washes you up. But probably better."

"But he just brushes me, not with the water and those smelly bottles."

"These people will take care of you safely," Reshiram said.

Patience lowered her ears. "Maybe, but it'll be wet. I bet people don't make you take baths."

"I like taking baths in lakes," he said. "They're being nice to you, so give it a try."

When the Eevee still seemed reluctant, River said, "Look, I'll get them to give me a bath too. Will that prove to you that it's nothing to be concerned about?"

"Err, maybe?"

So that's how River ended up being given a bath by an odd man that wore a fancy blue vest with matching pants. Patience was allowed to watch from the countertop nearby, although sometimes she checked to see that the loud woman was still in the other shop booth. "Ah, you have such strength and elegance in your form," the man said, going over River with a small brush first. "You could have the beauty of a warrior queen with the proper care."

"You think so?" Rosa asked while River just rolled her eyes.

"Yes, your Pokemon has a lot of potential. Would you hop into the sink, dear Riolu? I'm sorry about the accommodations, but for the interview, we must make due with what is available."

"Yeah, sure," River said, dropping down into the sink. "It's going to be fine."

"You don't seem too happy," Patience said.

"It just seems silly to me," she replied, holding still while the man sprayed warm water over her. "I can keep myself clean just fine with my short fur. But you have long fur and you don't stand on twos most of the time. I guess it does feel nice."

"We're going to make you beautiful," the groomer said in a sing-song voice. Extra silly. "Now with your fur and skin, hmm... this will be the ticket." He took a plastic bottle from a suitcase he had and put some of the soap in his hands. "Hold still, if you would."

"That was the smelly stuff," Patience said.

"It's not that bad." River took a deep breath of the stuff: a bit like citrus, a bit like herbs, and a bit (but not bad) of soap. It was invigorating, plus this man knew what he was doing in massaging the lather. Combined with the nice scent of the shampoo, it was pleasant. "I mean, it is silly... a fighting Pokemon like me being pampered like this... I can handle myself... though this is really nice. You should try it."

The Eevee tilted her head. "Um, you okay River?"

"I'm good," she said dreamily.

"Weird." Patience sat up, seeming like she might try to leave for a moment. But she decided to stick around while the groomer rinsed River off and dried her with a warm soft towel.

"Let's check you over for knots," the groomer said, taking a soft brush over River's head. "But I think you're good for that."

"You're really good at this," River said. She wondered for a bit why she hadn't thought this was helpful. It certainly was a good thing that Rosa happened to come in here at the right time, so that she decided to do this because of Patience. They were good folks and Rosa probably would've paid for this. After all, she was nice to them like that. She should stick by Rosa and make her proud.

It felt like something was shifting inside her, but she didn't really take notice until her senses picked up surprise from several sources, with remarkable clarity for not really looking. To her surprise, she found that she had evolved into a Lucario (but still smelled faintly of the citrus and herb shampoo). She had steel spikes on her paws and chest now, along with extra sets of ears hanging from her head.

"Wow, you can evolve because of a bath?" Patience asked, her brown eyes wide.

"Wh-what?" River asked, looking at her paws again. "Oh no, that can't be real... I was supposed to evolve when I perfected my spirit... not because I took a bath."

"I told you she could be beautiful," the groomer said proudly, flipping one of her ears. She glared at him briefly but, well, she couldn't stay mad at him. Not when he treated her so well.

"Yeah, that's amazing," Rosa said. "Come over here, River, I want to see you."

"This is so embarrassing," she said, but walked along the counter towards Rosa. "I hope you don't tell anybody about this."

"What's got you so moody now?" Rosa asked, rubbing under her chin.

"She doesn't want a lot of people to know about this," Reshiram said, leaning on the counter near Rosa.

"Yeah," River mumbled.

"Oh, okay."

The groomer twirled the brush in his hand. "Don't let a sulk bring you down, Miss Lucario," he said. Then he looked to Patience. "So, are you ready?"

"Uh," she glanced back at River. "I guess baths are good. Okay, I'll be a good girl and try." She walked over to the groomer, still cautiously watching him.

"Don't worry," the groomer said in a reassuring tone. "I'm going to bring out the best in you, like any Pokemon under my care. Now, we'll need a more suitable brush." He returned the soft one to its case and pulled out a large more bristly one to deal with the Eevee's long fur.

"You can groom any Pokemon?" Reshiram asked.

"Yes, I will take care of any," the groomer said.

"What if I'm really a large dragon with scales and fur?" he asked, seemingly interested.

The groomer paused a moment, glancing at him. "I might need a reservation so we could get to a bigger location, but I would certainly try my best. We'd need good quality brushes, and probably a moisturizing shampoo and conditioner for soft fur. Then some natural oils and polishing cloths to take care of the scales, and hmmm..."

"No, don't tempt me like that," Reshiram said with a smile. He left the counter to go find Hilbert.

"I don't know if that would be a disrespect or an honor," River said. "Maybe an honor if he likes it."

"He'd look amazing, I think," Patience said.

Unfortunately, the brushing and bathing did not trigger an evolution for Patience. River would have felt a little better if she hadn't been the only one. This really wasn't how she was expecting to become a Lucario. But, it meant that she'd be a better help to Rosa. There was also one other fortunate thing... Nate decided to hire the groomer that had taken care of them, so she might see him again.

* * *

At the end of the day, Hilbert decided to head off to meet up with N again. "He went to go speak with Hilda's mother," he explained. "We're still waiting to hear from the police if they'll release information to us, so we've been investigating on our own."

"We'll keep looking how we can," Nate said, but he felt worried for a moment. The N of this world was around... "How... is N doing? I don't know if Cheren told you, but I kind of remember..."

"About Rune identifying your old friend?" Hilbert asked. "He told us a little bit. N, well... I could say that he's doing great, because he's improved from how he was under Ghetsis. But at the moment, he's worried sick about Hilda. He can hardly think of anything else and it's wearing him down. I don't think he's going to regress back, but if she doesn't show up soon, he's going to get hit hard with depression. It's the first time he's been in love with somebody. We're watching out for him and making sure that he's okay. But, well," he looked over at where Reshiram was talking with Rosa, River, and Patience, then lowered his voice, "Reshiram and Zekrom aren't doing much better because of their brother being missing. He's been rather cheerful and silly today, but I think it's a bluff even if it is him. They're doubting their capabilities and whatever happened the other day had them feeling imbalanced for hours."

Balance. "That's what Rosa said, but she was only unbalanced for a few minutes," he said. "If I've got it right, then Reshiram and Zekrom's powers are balanced to each other, and Kyruem both lies in the middle of the balance and at the edge encompassing them."

"That sounds right," Hilbert said.

"Something happened with Kyurem; it must have shifted his power somehow." He held one hand up. "Let's say I have a pair of hanging scales, balanced to match each other on my fingers. While the center is unmoving, the balance is still. But if it moves sharply," he brought his hand down, "the scales are going to swing wildly until they adjust to the new position. That must be what happened to them. And since Rosa is one of the other immortals of Unova, she felt the shift of power but wasn't as affected."

"This is crazy," Hilbert said, nodding. "I have a gut feeling that Ghetsis is involved somehow. Nobody found him after he vanished with the Shadow Triad and he's literally not afraid of doing anything if it gives him power. I don't know if N is ready to face him, though. He's grown stronger, but the power Ghetsis had over him was, hmmm..."

"Like chains."

Hilbert raised an eyebrow. "Yeah."

Nate put his hand to his chest. "I have suspicions that I was involved with Team Plasma at one point in my past. It's in how I knew N there, and in strange things that I know. Plus, I have a journal here in this Pokeball pendant that has some suspicious documents. And now Ghetsis... the name seems so familiar, but fills me with dread. I don't want to tell Rosa about it, though. She lost Pokemon because of them."

"Well if it's another world that you don't fully remember, it's hard to say. Maybe you could listen to one of Ghetsis' recordings. That is, if you feel like it when you're not sure about meeting N face to face."

"I mostly didn't want to scare him or something like that," Nate explained.

"Could you give me a copy of the documents you think belong to Plasma? I'll ask him what he thinks."

"Sure, if I have your Xtransciever number, I can mail them to you." Besides, trading numbers would allow them to collaborate on the search for Hilda and Kyurem.

* * *

That evening at the hotel, Nate got the documents copied and sent to Hilbert. Then he searched for a video of Ghetsis speaking. Ruby was sitting on the edge of the bed, while Signet and Patience looked out the window. Rune was perched on the head of the bed. "I'm going to do something that could make me react badly," he said, mostly to Rune. "If Ruby can't get through to me, would you go alert Rosa?"

The Sigilyph blinked at him, then seemed to nod with its eyestalk.

"Okay, good." he scanned through the list of videos he'd gotten. Most seemed to be making fun of Ghetsis, edited to make him ridiculous. But after checking a dozen, he got one that was unedited.

It was of a speech he made in a small city., early on when they had just become public. As he suspected, Ghetsis had a familiar voice and way of speaking. He looked a lot like what Nate remembered N as: light green hair, fair skin, tall. If he did have a connection to them, he should remember something about Ghetsis.

Like...

…

"It's not a matter of what N believes," Ghetsis said. "It doesn't matter because I control him. I tell him what to believe and what to do. Yes, he has the power to rule over all aspects of this world. But I have the power to rule over him. You can't change that. So stop this ridiculous campaign of yours or I will make sure that you suffer."

…

It wasn't much, but Nate had a feeling that he'd heard that in person, in the same room. He'd been watching the exchange, could recall feeling concerned for... Rood, that's who Ghetsis had been speaking to. Nate could recall him from an earlier vision. So he had some connection to Team Plasma. But what specifically? And what had happened then?

Thinking on it made his head hurt, but worse was the sudden rush of terror.

…

He saw N in a doorway just of out Ghetsis' vision, watching the small group of the castle staff and a few of Rood's supporters. It was something to be concerned about. But maybe it had to happen.

"Your policies are only making things worse," Rood said. "The corruption has been spreading and he's the only one that could do anything about it anymore because of what you've pushed him into doing. You should respect him more."

"You should respect me more!" Ghetsis demanded. "He's my tool, nothing more."

Within seconds, N snapped, Ghetsis died, and half the world was destroyed.

…

"Nate!" Rosa gripped his arm tightly.

His heart was racing; he gripped her hand. "I, I'm here."

Either she or Ruby had pulled his chair away from the computer. Patience jumped in his lap while the other Pokemon in the room looked on worried. "What happened this time?" Rosa asked. "You're so pale. And what were you doing watching him?" She glanced at the computer, where the video clip had ended.

He couldn't say that it was nothing, but he wasn't sure what all to tell her, given how she felt about Team Plasma. "His arrogance led to the destruction of my world. Now I'm not sure how I survived that."

She ended up staying with him for the better part of an hour until he calmed down, warning his Pokemon to keep an extra careful eye on him. Although they probably would have done so anyhow.


	27. Running From Fame

June 23

Castelia

For much of his childhood, he'd been called Curtis. Christoph had been his birth name, but his uncle thought it was a pretentious name and so called him Curtis instead. His mother, living with her brother, hadn't liked that much but agreed to it when he answered to it better. During that time, singing had been fun and he'd thought nothing of taking extra music lessons. Then his father had shown back up, romancing his mother again and convincing her that she and Curtis needed to live with him. Although his aunt and uncle didn't think it was a good idea, his parents had pulled him into studio program designed to create glamorous young stars.

And it worked spectacularly well with him, far better than the other children he'd known back in those day. However, his manager and his parents thought Curtis wasn't appropriate for the name of a star like him. They used Christoph instead. He got used to that and for several years felt like it was more his name than Curtis. But then...

Curtis shook his head, and looked back at the clipboard. He was letting himself get lost in thought again when he had a job to do. Looking over the inventory list, he focused on a few items and checked the shelves in front of him. The storeroom was well-organized, in part due to regular checks like this. Unlike the more public areas, it was strictly utility in nature, with concrete floors and industrial metal shelving. In the area he was checking, there was a partial bottle of hair dye that was in the wrong place, so he made a small mark to keep his place so he could put it in the right spot.

"Why are they having me do this?" he mumbled to himself, taking the hair dye. Surely they had others in the studio who used to do this regularly. But that's how it was lately. They put him to odd tasks when he wasn't doing publicity or recording work. Maybe they were trying to find some out-of-sight job for him to transfer to so that they didn't have to fire him? It might cause less fuss.

Great, now he was being pessimistic and accepting of what the studio had in mind for him. But it wasn't like there was anything he could do at the moment. He was seventeen, a few months away from having a little more freedom to do things. But even being old enough to request changes to his contract without his parents' say might be too little too late. He couldn't really...

What if he did run out on them at this time? It was a seriously tempting option. They certainly weren't listening to him.

There was a jingle from his Xtransciever and for a moment, he hoped it was something from Rosa. But, it wasn't, just a notification that a message had gone up on his official website. It was supposedly from him, but he'd not personally written anything for it in over a month. 'The new recordings are going smoothly; this is going to be a great album!'

Frowning, he thought over this afternoon's session. The technician had arrived late because he'd been working with another artist longer than planned, he'd spent much of that time arguing with his manager about a song that he thought was too bland, and then he couldn't convince them to rerecord another song that he wasn't satisfied with. He already hated this album.

This was not right; he couldn't stand this any more. Sure, his fans could get over-zealous at times, but Curtis hated the thought of the disappointment they'd have with what was going to happen. But he hated himself more for going along with this quietly. He should be able to do something. If he wasn't sure what, then maybe time away from this place would help.

He looked at the hair dye in his hands. It seemed to be some kind of dark purple. Maybe this could help; the change in hair color might be enough to fool people, but he had ways to prove his identity to those that mattered. However, the instructions on this bottle were blocked out by dark smudges and part of its label was torn off. He went to where the hair dyes were kept and looked over the other bottles. Eventually, he found a full bottle that looked similar enough. It wanted him to brush the dye into his hair, leave it for half an hour, wash it out with plain water, then dry the hair gently. That sounded easy enough.

But, there were some things he wanted to take care of before he left. It wouldn't be easy, though, since he'd have to take care of them in the city and the studio didn't want him to go about without a bodyguard. If he snuck out to take care of things, how long would it take them to notice?

Curtis went ahead and finished up the storeroom inventory, hiding the bottle of hair dye in his pants pocket. On his way to the main office, he spotted his voice coach speaking with three preteen girls. "Sure, we can hold an extra lesson for you girls this evening," she said.

"Oh, thank goodness," the curly-haired girl said. "It's the first big video for us and I didn't know if we could get it right."

"They'll re-take it a number of times, so you don't have to get it perfect the first go," the coach said. "Go check with your manager to make sure there's nothing else you need to do."

"Okay!" The three of them ran off laughing, past him without even noticing. The voice coach went down the hall in the other direction.

He was supposed to have one of his voice lessons tonight, although their sessions had gotten laid back lately. Almost lazy. Curtis shrugged and went to file the inventory papers. The voice coach didn't even come to find him to give him word of the canceled session, only sending a text without a single reference to the girl group. At least he didn't have to come up with an excuse to get out of it. Now he could leave early.

Without thinking, Curtis started to head towards his manager's office. But on hearing him talking on the phone, Curtis decided that he didn't need to. He could have asked to cancel the recording session tomorrow morning to give himself longer to get away, but that might raise suspicion. Plus it'd be easier to get out of here without a bodyguard if he left without his manager knowing. But that gave him another idea. Maybe a bad one... but he didn't care. It would be better to do it than not.

He went up to the floor that had the editing equipment, trying to avoid notice or talk with the others in the studio. All the recordings were kept in digital format until the first stage of editing was done, in three copies. While they may not have noticed, he had paid attention to how such things were done. More importantly, he knew where all three copies would be stored and how to erase them. If they weren't going to listen to his doubts, he wasn't going to let them release any of this garbage.

Curtis was able to get all copies of his recent recordings erased before any of the music editing technicians noticed him there. The one that did find him poked her head in the door. "What are you doing in here, Christoph?"

"I was just listening to one of the raw recordings, to see how it could be improved," he said, his body tensing as he hoped that she bought that story. "I'm done now, sorry if it's a problem."

"Nah, you're fine," she said. "Do you need any help?"

"No, I got it," he said, getting up.

She let him get away with that, thankfully. Curtis then went back to the elevator and asked for it to take him to the lobby. Above the keypad, there was a card slot that kept businesses like the studio from being visited without notice. He didn't have to use it to get to the lobby. But if the studio security noticed him, they could refuse to let him out without a guard. It was only a few seconds, but that fear didn't leave him until the doors opened up and let him go. Moving quickly, he left the building, only taking a few seconds to put on a hat to hopefully deter notice a little.

Out on the streets of Castelia, Curtis joined the flow of pedestrians to get to the bank. It wasn't as busy as it would be just an hour earlier, but there were a good amount of people that he could blend into. Without a bodyguard hanging over his shoulder, he already felt freer than he had been in a long time. He entered the bank feeling confident that this was going to work.

There weren't many people here and it would be closing in a short time. Hopefully they would make time for what he wanted. It didn't take long for him to get a meeting with a clerk in one of the separate offices. She was middle-aged and had a kind tone in her voice as she asked, "How may I help you tonight?"

"I want to make some changes to my account," he said, passing over his bank and ID cards, so that she could check on him. "And I know I'm not eighteen yet, but it's very important that I do this."

"You should have your guardian's permission to make alterations," she started to say, but then looked at his cards. "Oh, wait... you really are Christoph."

If that's what it would take... he smiled warmly. "Yeah. I hope it's not trouble that I came in so late, but I didn't have time earlier." Or the idea to do this.

"It's just a surprise, really," she said, but she seemed to be thinking of something. "What did you have in mind?"

"I want to change the security on my accounts," he told her. "Most of all, I want to take away access from my parents and my studio manager. If things are as I hope, it won't cause a problem. But I have suspicions that someone is using their information to get access they don't deserve."

"Hmm... how much longer do you have until your eighteenth birthday?"

"A month and a half, about."

She put her hand to her cheek. "I see. Well we can run a fraud check, although we would have warned you of any red flags that have come up. But I don't see any problems with changing that access a few weeks early. Oh, but... I really shouldn't ask, but could I get a favor from you? I've got a CD of yours as a present to my daughter; would you mind putting an autograph on it? It'd really delight her."

"Sure, that'd be a wonderful surprise," he said. It wasn't much to him at this point, just taking the cover from inside the CD case and signing his artificial name on it, along with a small birthday note to sweeten the deal. But getting this issue with the bank settled might be worth as much to him as this little scribble would be worth to the girl who'd be getting this in a few days.

The clerk then checked over his account and started changing over settings for him. She turned the screen so that he could see what was going on. "You might be right about your suspicions, although I hope it's not your parents doing this. There has been a request to transfer a sum of ten thousand Poke to your manager's account. It hasn't been approved, so we can easily decline it. And here, a set amount has always been transferred to your parents' accounts every month and it has been requested to nearly triple not too long ago. What should be done about that?"

"Just end that arrangement," Curtis said. "They have their own incomes and it shouldn't cause much of a problem to cut it off." Although their incomes were what they could squeeze out of part-time temporary jobs and government assistance. They had been relying mostly on his income for seven years and it was about time that stopped.

"Sure enough," the clerk said, not worried as she did as he asked. "Then we have some automatic payments set up, and this which is an offer on a house in Undella. It doesn't mark that as suspicious, though."

It was what he thought they were up to. He checked what the payments were for. "Yeah, they must have been at this a while. None of these are mine. And drop the offer on the house, I don't want it any more. Some other options have come up."

She nodded. "With as much money is being exchanged, I can request a police investigation into this. Looks like you took quite a hit, but it might still be recoverable if they get involved."

They could ask the police just on this? Thank the gods, Curtis thought to himself. "Sure, we should do that. I thought I could handle things myself just by doing this, but it would make me feel a lot better with them looking into it too."

"Right. It's awful that they'd target a teenager for this, even with the kind of income you have." She turned around the screen to start that.

He looked at his Xtransciever, wondering how much help he could get. "I have some papers at home that started making me suspicious. Would it help if I gave them over to the bank here to give to the police investigators?"

"They'd probably want to talk with you, so you can give the papers over then."

Curtis shook his head. "I'd love to, but I'm kept really busy these days. It'd probably get to them faster if I left them here."

"Hmm, I see. Let me get an envelope for you, then. We'll make a note that it's only to be opened by the investigator."

At moments, he wondered if it was right for him to be doing this. But then again, it was definitely wrong in how his parents were buying things with his money without telling him. This would surely wake them up to the fact that he wasn't an ignorant child.

He got home from the bank without incident. Neither of his parents were home. Where were they? He didn't remember seeing them this morning either, although he had been in a hurry to get to an early meeting. Curtis released his Spiritomb in the living room, then called his mother's number. Used to be called out in the home occasionally, Spectra went for her usual entertainment of rearranging pictures on the wall.

He only got her default away message, though. "Hey mom, where are you guys?" he asked the recording. "I'm home a little early today and don't have any plans for the evening. Talk to you later." He shut the Xtransciever and looked around at the quiet apartment. "Well this gives me some room to work with, but I hope they don't come back without warning."

"Hmm hmm?" Spectra asked, turning her eyes to him. She was holding a picture of his parents at their (rather late) wedding.

"We're getting out of here," he told her. "I've been nice all this time, hoping they'd change if I was reasonable. Since they aren't changing, it seems I have to change to get this mess to stop."

"Heee," she replied, then broke into malicious sounding giggles. But that just made Curtis laugh. Spectra hadn't done that in a long while, not since she was a more troublesome Pokemon who was still learning how to get along with humans.

"Exactly," he said, tapping part of her smokey body. "I need to decide what to take, and how not to look too conspicuous. I don't want them finding me right away."

Feeling hungry, he went into the kitchen to get supper. He normally ate pre-made meals that were made for dieters, to keep his appearance standard. But since he was planning on running, why worry about keeping that up? He got some frozen burritos that his dad kept in the freezer and had those to eat instead. It was on the salty side, but Curtis didn't care.

He checked several sites while eating, including his official fansite. As notified earlier, they had that statement from the studio publicist posting as him. He felt bad as he read replies of people who were eager for it to come out, asking for song previews and hints. More interestingly, he found a clip there of him singing that old anthem in Join Avenue. It seemed someone had noticed him there and was going to take a short video as proof, but then kept recording as he got up to sing. There were some posts confused about what he was singing, but there were also those that liked it.

And in there, there seemed to be a post that could have been Rosa. It had the right kind of name, MarillRose, and she was explaining that it was a really old song of Unova. Curtis smiled at the thought and considered calling her to ask about it. But it might be more fun to surprise her by showing up unexpected. The trouble might be finding her, unless...

He made a quick check of the Subway Battle Group and confirmed that the second round to pick their PWT representative was going to be tomorrow afternoon. He could find them there. If not, he could call her and she should be in that area. It made him think of something else, so he checked for information about that before cleaning up after his supper.

He spent the rest of the evening packing and making a list of things he'd want to pick up to travel around like Rosa and Nate. To his disappointment, he didn't hear back from his mother until after he'd come out of the shower from the dying process, past nine o'clock. It was just a text. 'Gonna be in Undella for a couple more days. Got a big surprise for you! Invite some of your friends over for a party if you want, just don't wreck the apartment. See ya!'

"The house I didn't let you buy?" Curtis said. But it didn't matter. He went back to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. With the dye in, his hair looked much darker, kind of an ugly purple. Maybe it would look better in the morning.

* * *

June 24

No... it looked worse in the morning. His hair was now a dull murky brown-purple. Had he used too much of it? His eyebrows were still light colored too, which he could cover up with a hat or something. At least it made him look different. Curtis grabbed the bag he'd packed as well as a cap and went downstairs for some breakfast.

It was still early, but no one had tried to contact him. If anyone would, it would be the studio in a few hours. To evade them, it would be best to leave behind his new Xtransciever with his new number. He still had the old one with all the numbers recorded on it, but the crowd he was escaping had switched to his new number. But before he left entirely, there was something he wanted to do.

For that, he got logged into his website. That false message from him was still there. It was time to correct that. He could also make it an announcement that would show up on the front page. And since they had updated yesterday, they hopefully wouldn't look until too late. Curtis thought for a moment, then started writing.

'6-24: Okay, I take that back. This album would turn out to be awful. I don't like any of the songs and I don't want to finish it. In fact, I won't. I'll make sure that something so carelessly worked on won't be released. I'm leaving; I'll be back when I can follow my own passion. I apologize to all of you out there who may have been waiting for the new album, but it's better this way. I have no reason to apologize to the studio. Goodbye-Posted by Christoph'

That would do. "Spectra, we're getting out of here!"

Part of her spirit flames appeared through the wall as she hopped her small stone self into the kitchen. Curtis picked her up then left the apartment. Letting the Spiritomb ride around in his bike basket, he headed back to the bank to drop off the papers, then rode north and out of Castelia. It didn't matter that the air was sandy here. The sun was shining and the people around him were keeping to their own business. His life was his own now and it was glorious.

By the time he was in Castelia, the Pokemon World Tournament qualifier was already taking place in front of Gear Station. A roped off section kept a path for those who wanted to get in and out of the station, but most people were out watching two sets of battles. The one closest to him seemed to be one of Elesa's Gym Trainers battling a big guy wearing a black vest and worn blue jeans. Getting off his bike, he walked it over to the other battle to find Nate battling another one of the Gym Trainers, his Pignite against a Galvantula. And if he was there, Rosa would likely be nearby.

He took his old Xtransciever and sent a text message to her. 'I'm here in Nimbasa – Curtis'. Then he continued around the crowd looking. Eventually, he spotted a Jellicent acting as a cheerleader to the battle, and from there he saw Rosa typing on her Xtransciever. 'Where?'

"Over here, Rosa," he called out. The crowd was noisy, but she should be able to hear that.

She looked over, then grinned and came over to him. "Hey Curtis! Oh, what happened to your hair?"

He rubbed his head. "I tried to dye it, so I wouldn't be as noticeable. It works, even if it looks bad. I, well, I decided to run away, like you suggested. Just this morning."

"That'll show 'em," she said. "What're you going to do now?"

Curtis shrugged. "I'm not sure. If you don't mind, I'd like to stick with you two until I can figure something else out."

"Sure, it should be fine. I'm just watching Nate's Pokemon winning their battles. As far as I know, they need to win this battle and one more, and he's going to be in the PWT opening tournament!"

"That'll be great," he said. "How's he doing?"

"Pretty well," she said, looking back to the battle area. "She has two... oh wait, the Galvantula's not out anymore. Maybe one more Pokemon?"

Ruby was dashing across the battlefield, flames flickering off her body as she collided with the Emolga. The flying squirrel got knocked to the ground, knocked out of the fight. From the cheers of the crowd, it seemed that Nate had won. Emmet stepped forward, tipping his hat. "And the winner of this match is Nate. It's not over yet, though. Once the other match is done, you will face the winner there. Then we will know who will appear in the big tournament. Good luck."

"I'll be waiting," Nate said, going over to where they had a healing machine set up.

"We might have to get lucky to go over and talk to him now," Rosa said. "He's gotten pretty popular today. But we can try." She took his hand, probably not to lose him in the crowd, and headed over to Nate.

Not that Curtis minded; a smile came to his face. The crowd thought he was just some ordinary guy, save for a couple of friends that he could really trust to be friends. If he told them he was Christoph, he might be able to get the crowd to do what he wanted. But he had left that fame behind, along with those who had betrayed his trust and ignored his feelings. Now Nate was the one surrounded by a few starstruck girls and Curtis was holding onto the hand of the one he cared most about... it made him feel giddy. But it had to be the sense of freedom he felt, he told himself.

Nate looked like he wasn't sure what to do about the girls near him. His posture was defensive as they tried to get him to talk with them. "I never thought there was such a cool Trainer around here," one said. "Where do you train?"

"Er, wherever I happen to be," Nate said. "I just think through what I want to do."

"Naaate, I know you're more confident than that," Rosa called teasingly.

"Sorry Rosa," he said, relaxing as they managed to get to him. "And... Curtis, is that you? What happened to your hair?"

"I tried to change up my style by myself," he said, still smiling and not even embarrassed about the ugly color now. "I think I'll stick with hair salons from now on."

That made him chuckle. "I guess the important thing is that you tried. So are you coming with us now?"

Curtis raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, how'd you guess?"

"You're here and you dyed your hair," Nate replied. "That tells me all I need to know."

"Who are they?" one of the girls asked, trying to sneak closer to Nate.

"People I know the names of," he said. "My friends."

Rosa laughed and mockingly made like she would punch him. "Aw come on, be nice for your admirers."

"Sorry, I, well," he rubbed his head.

Thankfully for Nate, cheers from the other half of the crowd interrupted them as the other battle ended. Ingo called over all of them, "And the winner of this match is Charles! That means we're just one match away from knowing who will be appearing on our behalf in the Pokemon World Tournament's opening round! Let's have a brilliant show!"

"Charles, huh?" Curtis said. "He's got quite a reputation."

"Is he big in the League?"

"Not really," he said, thinking. "He's... well, you'll see."

Right then, Charles himself came over to the healing machine to take care of his Pokemon. "So which one of you kids is my next opponent?" he asked, speaking with a deep and smooth voice.

"That'd be me," Nate said, shifting his visor. With his loose shorts and t-shirt, he seemed much smaller than Charles. But then, the local legend of a biker made just about anyone seem smaller with his presence. Still, Nate seemed more sure of himself addressing a future opponent rather than dealing with girls who had a crush on him. Curtis considered for a moment if he could spend some time teaching Nate to be a bit more charming. It'd be amusing, considering how Nate seemed smart about so much else.

Charles nodded with a thoughtful look in his eyes. "Ah. You seem scrawny. But like they say, don't judge the battle by the look of the Trainer. You'd better be up for a good show. Don't want to disappoint the girls now, would you?"

"Uh, guess not," Nate said, making Rosa and Curtis laugh.

Emmet and Ingo showed up to clear the crowd and set up the battle between Nate and Charles. Curtis pulled back with Rosa. "Oh, I remembered about that story of Keldeo. It took place not that far from here; we could go there later today."

"Really?" she asked, turning to him in interest. "What was it?" But before he could give any answer, she changed her mind. "Wait, actually, tell me when we get there. Since we were last together, I got to talk to Reshiram and he says that I am Keldeo. Can't argue with him, but I still don't remember it myself." For a moment, she looked upset. "Sometimes I'm not sure if I want to remember. It's mostly a feeling I have, but there's also..."

"What is it?" Curtis asked when she stopped speaking all of a sudden. Before she replied, he felt a tug at his shirt. He looked down and saw Rosa's Dewott looking up at him in disapproval. "What?"

That broke her out of her odd mood. "Bard, don't be mean to him," she said, beckoning him to her other side. He did so, but continued to shoot Curtis dirty looks. Nearby, there was some Pokemon snickering; Curtis saw Grim with his wing over his beck and Spectra with a mischievous plotting grin.

"I didn't mean to make you jealous," Curtis told the Dewott, although he wasn't sure how effective that was.

"Cristoph, is that you?" a quiet yet familiar voice managed to pierce through the crowd.

He nearly jumped, a moment of panic making his heart skip a beat. But then he saw Emmet sneak up beside them. "Geez, do you have to scare people like that?" Curtis asked. "Guess I didn't do enough to hide my identity."

"It was your voice, not your looks," Emmet said.

"Hey, could you, well, pretend you didn't see him here?" Rosa asked, trying to be heard by the other two but not the crowd.

The Subway boss raised an eyebrow. "Is that what you want?"

Curtis nodded. "Yeah. I'm not supposed to be here today, but... well you were the one who said things seemed toxic at the studio."

"I was being a little dramatic," Emmet said, shrugging.

"I'm being serious," he replied.

"Hmm." He tipped his hat. "Then I haven't seen you, stranger. Best of luck to you." Emmet slipped away again.

Feeling relieved, Curtis touched his throat. "My voice, huh? I could shift it, but... it could be hard to maintain."

"But being able to live your life freely is worth it, huh?" Rosa asked, smiling again.

"Definitely," he said.

At that point, Ingo whistled, calling the crowd to attention."All right everybody, are we ready to see who is the star of today's tournament?"

"It'll be Nate!" Rosa called out, raising her hand in the air while the rest of the crowd there cheered and called out support for one or the other.

"You sure?" Curtis asked softly, leaning closer to her. "Charles is pretty good."

At the center of the crowd, Ingo was quieting everyone while the two competitors observed each other. "I'll always cheer for him," Rosa whispered back. "Because I think he can be one of the great ones."

"Over on this side," Ingo said, giving a dramatic sweep of his arm to his left, "we have a local legend, a man admired and envied for his accomplishments, Charles the Heartbreaker!"

"That's a little grandiose, but you have the name right," Charles said, nodding in approval.

Then Ingo did the same to his right. "And challenging him is a relative newcomer, yet a quickly rising star in the Pokemon scene, the boy known only as Nate!"

"Are you making fun of me?" Nate asked in a deadpan voice, causing many to break into laughter.

"Emmet, you should know better than that," Ingo commented.

"Don't break my rhythm," Emmet said in a huff, although he probably did it more to entertain the crowd than really argue. "But enough with joking around, we're here to find a Pokemon team worthy of being global stars! Are the competitors ready? State your teams."

"I'm ready," Nate said, nodding. "I have four."

"Ready to show you true friendship," Charles said. "I have my faithful three at my side."

"Great, then let the battle begin!" Emmet said, stepping back out of the way.

Nate brought out Patience, who seemed excited until she meet the harsh gaze of the Krokorok that Charles released. She quivered a bit, but then stamped a paw down and seemed determined to fight regardless. Even so, she didn't make much headway against the Krokorok aside from blinding him well with a couple of Sand Attacks. Nate switched her out for Ruby, which seemed like a gutsy move to Curtis. He still made it work, although he quickly pulled her out in exchange for a Sigilyph when Charles countered with a Basculin. Charles' Pokemon were tenacious, but so were Nate's and in the end, he didn't lose a Pokemon in the match.

At the end of it, Charles still smiled proudly. "Looks like I was preaching to the choir about friendship. Give it your best in August."

"Thank you sir," Nate said, going over to shake his hand.

"Don't need the sir," he said, taking the handshake. "I'll be heading back to the road. Later." Charles then headed off to heal his Pokemon back up before making a noisy exit on his motorcycle.

"This means that the winner of today's tournament and our representative to the PWT is Nate!" Emmet called, coming back in to the center of the cheering crowd. "Wonderful job! How do you feel?"

"I'm having a hard time believing it myself," Nate said, then smiled at Signet who was still out. "But my Pokemon have been wonderful. We'll get as far as we can and keep improving."

The Golett at Nate's side put a hand to his forehead as a salute.

"This is great," Rosa said in excited glee. "We'll have to treat his Pokemon to a special lunch."

"Sounds fun," Curtis said, again heading over to Nate with her. "Hey Nate, that was amazing!"

"Thanks," he said, then gave them a curious look. "You two are still holding hands?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rosa asked, letting Curtis go. "It's crowded here."

He found himself blushing. Then again, so was she. Maybe it was something more than just that.


	28. Charm School Boot Camp

June 24

Nimbasa

In the afternoon, Curtis led Rosa and Nate along the street that went east from Nimbasa. There were buildings to the south, but a lush wooded area past a tall chainlink fence to the north. Such a curious divide between nature and technology, Rosa thought. It seemed to have gotten more drastic since she had moved, or maybe she was just now noticing it.

"The bridge that way leads to Black City," Curtis said, mostly to Nate. "But what we want is through the trees here. There's the opening."

"Is this all right?" he asked as they turned to the grassy field. "That fence seems like they want to discourage trespassing."

"It's fine," Rosa said. "The White Forest Regional Park starts not too far from here, maybe even within sight. They wanted to set up a buffer zone between the cities and the forest, but there was so little land available that they added the fence to keep Pokemon off the road when there's bikers around."

"Makes sense."

After passing through a thickly wooded path, they came upon a sudden rise in the ground to their right, which soon led them to walking alongside a twelve foot cliff. Rosa started hearing the sounds of a waterfall, which got her interest immediately. Something about this did seem familiar, like she'd traveled the path in a dream before. The feeling increased as they stepped out into a large meadow where a small waterfall and stream greeted them. A simple footbridge crossed over the quickly flowing water. Across the bridge, there was an old stump from what must have a large tree. The scene seemed right, save for the missing tree.

Curtis went to the bridge. "This is the spot. We were making one of my music videos here when I heard the story about Keldeo. There was a girl, about our age, who was being courted by a young nobleman, the heir to a lot of lands around here. But she was the daughter of a baker and there were those who believed she didn't deserve the nobleman's love. One of her rivals even set out to kill her, hiring some ruffians to take care of the job. The girl ran out here looking for a place to hide, but they were able to catch up.

"That's when Keldeo appeared. He struck down the fastest of the ruffians in her defense. When the others arrived and they were outnumbered, Keldeo split the waterfall in two and made a cavern appear underneath it. The girl ran in on his orders, then Keldeo leaped to the top of the cliff and made the waterfall one again. The ruffians tried to chase the girl into the cave, but the entrance had disappeared. The next morning, Keldeo brought the girl out and escorted her back to the house of her love. He thought she was dead, but their return brought the ruffians and the rival to justice. The older folks around here believe that there is still a cave behind this waterfall, even though you can't find the way inside."

"You think you can open it up?" Nate asked, looking at her.

Rosa observed the waterfall. It was about three feet wide and didn't throw up too much mist, so it wasn't hard to see the solid earth behind it. And yet, she could imagine the scene so readily in her mind. The moonlit forest, threats being called through the trees, the defeated brute calling out their location, the tired sobbing from the girl. "I think so," Rosa said, taking out the sword and bringing it to normal size.

It couldn't be just an ordinary slice to do something like split a waterfall and the earth behind it. It had to be some special move. But what? Last time she had fought with this, she had not been thinking about it, just feeling what to do. Being here in this place wasn't quite enough. But what if they were in trouble? What if someone were threatening Curtis and Nate and she wanted to do something to hide them until it was safe?

Yeah, she would do whatever she could to help them. Rosa brought her sword to her left hip, then quickly slashed it upwards at the waterfall. "Keee-yaaaah!"

…

Not letting a iron gate stand in his way, he jumped over the wall and across some pipes as he tracked her aura. Although there were a number of half-built human structures here, there seemed to be a few grassy areas where Pokemon could be. But if there were any locals, they were keeping hidden. He felt that would be sensible for them. There was someone working here who was had captured Meloetta and was now hurting her. He knew that much, but nothing else. Didn't matter, though. He'd free her and then they could figure out what to do about the villain behind this.

He spotted her quickly, sitting in a cage of iron bars with a steel plate underneath. It'd be tough, but he was confident that he could cut through those bars. "Meloetta! I've come to rescue you!"

She tensed at his voice. "Wait, stay back! It's not safe."

"Doesn't scare me," he replied, jumping down to the ground and racing over to her. But the moment he made contact with the steel plate, electricity shot up through his body. Grimacing in pain, he pushed himself to keep going, to cut the bars and at least free her. But he didn't make it before the electricity overcame him.

The next time he was awake, he was inside of a building that muffled his sense of what was outside of it. A human man was poking a needle inside his shoulder "It'd be nice if I had a third subject, but two should be sufficient," he said.

…

"Rosa?"

"Huh, oh sorry, I guess I was out of it for a moment." She tried to laugh it off, but she felt something like a needle poking into her shoulder. She rubbed it, soon finding that it was nothing but a phantom pain.

"What?" Curtis asked, puzzled.

Had it been him or Nate? She glanced down and saw that Bard seemed worried about her. Had she heard him?

"Did you remember something?" Nate asked.

Before she could answer, a movement from the waterfall distracted her. It wasn't the same. She had managed to split the waterfall, causing it to pour in two separate falls only a few inches apart. Between and behind them, there was now a small entrance. A small green Pokemon, like a bulb crawling with the use of leaves, was scurrying out of the cave.

And speaking with great rapidity that she could understand. "Eek, you saved me!" the Petlil said. "I, I was up top sunning and I fell in a hole and it was dark and so so scary and I thought I'd never ever never ever get out of there but then the wall ripped open and now I'm free and it's all thanks to you, oh my gosh, who are you, you don't seem like the other humans, you're powerful I think, and pretty, and oh wow, thanks for saving me, and..."

"Aaa!" Rosa screamed and clung to the nearest person in fright. It happened to be Curtis, who was almost as startled as she was

"Pet lii?" the Petlil asked, bewildered and no longer speaking in a way she could understand. The waterfall crashed back together and the entrance to the cave vanished.

"R-Rosa," Curtis gasped.

"O-oh, s-sorry," she said, loosening her grip on him.

The Petlil babbled again, leading Bard to start conversing with her. Curtis took a deep breath, but then put one arm around her. "It's okay," he said. "I didn't expect you to be that strong. Did you remember something scary?"

"Sort of, b-but the Petlil... surprised me..." she looked down at the bulb Pokemon. The Petlil looked back with wide eyes, then took a few steps closer. Rosa tried to step back, but she didn't want to get too far from Curtis. Then, for some reason, the Petlil bent forward enough to faceplant into the ground.

"Uh, looks like it likes you," Curtis said.

"You really should get back to working on overcoming that Grass phobia of yours," Nate said, going over to crouch by the Petlil. She was still face-first on the ground and mumbling.

Rosa let go of Curtis, but she felt like her body was resisting going any closer to the Petlil. "Well most everybody is scared of something," she tried to argue.

"What'll happen when you have to meet up with Verizion?" Nate pointed out. "I'm sure you will at some point."

"I guess so," she said, trying to remember if she had problems with Verizion before. But although that memory had been clear for a moment, nothing else was coming up. Or had she even been afraid of Grass Pokemon before?

"You could trust Verizion, I believe," Curtis said. "People say that she's seen in Pinwheel Forest to the south on occasion. It shouldn't be too far to get over there, although we might have to go back through Castelia." He seemed reluctant to do the last part. "Or take the subway."

Rosa rubbed her forehead. "We could, but... I don't know if I want to meet her if it's going to make me tense." She could try keeping a Grass Pokemon around again, like she had started to with Angel. And to think, she might have been able to continue understanding Pokemon if she hadn't freaked out at this Petlil.

"I could keep this one around, if it wants to come with us," Nate said as the Petlil rolled back onto her leafy feet. He rubbed his chin. "I was just thinking earlier, if I had had a Grass Pokemon, it would've been much easier to battle Charles. I..." he scratched his head. "My team lacks a good Water counter now that Argent is gone. Ground too and I think I can cover the Grass weaknesses decently..."

"Bo?" the Petlil asked, looking up at him. Then she looked back at Rosa and came a little bit closer. Rosa clenched her fist and tried not to tense up, causing the Petlil to give her a quizzical look and Bard to try explaining, again.

"I am traveling with her too," Nate said.

The Petlil looked up at her a little longer, then turned and went over to circle around Nate, asking unintelligible questions of him. At least, unintelligible to them. It made Curtis laugh, so Rosa tried to smile.

"Well we found another proof that Rosa is Keldeo, and a new Pokemon to join us," Nate said, trying to pet the Petlil. She was scurrying around him too fast, though. "It's been a good day so far."

"What, just that?" Rosa said, teasing him. Joking around should make her feel more cheerful. It usually did.

"Now I need a name for you," Nate said, trying to keep his eye on the Petlil.

"Call her Chatty Cathy," Rosa said. "Because she is."

He gave an amused smile. "Seems like it. Cathy it is then." He fished out a new Pokeball to capture her, although there was no reason to worry. Cathy was delighted to come with them. Because of her? It felt strange to Rosa. Maybe that might help.

"Want to try opening that cave again?" Curtis asked. "We never got to see inside."

"I guess I could," Rosa said, looking back at her sword. "What else are we doing today?"

He shrugged. "Doesn't matter to me. I wouldn't mind having a lazy day."

"I want to train with Cathy and the rest," Nate said. "I'd like to try taking on Elesa soon, maybe even this evening. When we fought the Gym Trainer this morning, we did pretty well. What about you?"

Rosa felt her face get warm with embarrassment; she shook her head. "Ah, well we're definitely not ready. River's the only one who'd be any good, maybe Chuchu if she's lucky. But you go ahead." Actually, she hadn't thought much of it. Elesa's Electric team had too much of an advantage over her team. While she could go after some non-Water Pokemon other than River, she couldn't think of any that'd be good against Electrics that appealed to her.

"There is a way..." Nate started to say, then quieted in thought.

"Oh, but are you really going to challenge Elesa like that?" Rosa asked.

"What do you mean?" He gave her a blank look.

Curtis put his hand to his chin, getting it right off. "Yeah, it's not in the rules or anything, but you don't want to make a bad impression at a Gym battle."

"As long as you show good sportsmanship, I don't think it's hard to make a good impression," Nate said.

"No, you're still off," Rosa said. "I mean about your clothes! Every Gym has it's own kind of theme that the Leader likes, remember? Like Roxie had the music club and Cheren was at the school. Well Elesa's Gym was turned into a fashion show's catwalk over a year ago."

"Seriously?" Nate said, not believing it.

"Seriously."

Curtis nodded. "Yeah, and while she doesn't give people who come in dressed regularly a hard time, Elesa does show a preference for those who take the effort to look good."

"I don't really care about my clothes, as long as they fit and are clean." Nate stood back up, scratching his head. "Although special occasions and formalities would call for more fitting attire."

"Well this should be special enough," Rosa said. "So how about we get you an outfit that'll be worth taking to a fashion show?"

"Ah, well," now he was the one who was embarrassed. Rosa felt a little bad for a moment, but it would help him.

"I'll help you out," Curtis said. "I'm pretty sure we don't have to go too far out of your comfort zone to come up with something. You might want to get your hair trimmed up to, though," he fingered his dull purple hair, "we'll go to a salon if you want that rather than trying to do it ourselves."

Nate looked to the both of them, then smiled sheepishly. "Well if I have your help, I don't think it'd be a problem."

* * *

After a couple of hours battling around the wooded meadow, Nate could tell that Cathy was a good catch. Like Patience, she started a little behind the rest of the team in levels; with her typing, she had a lot of weaknesses. But the Petlil was still quite capable, being able to heal herself, stun a foe, or hit with high accuracy. All of her moves were Grass type, but for now it worked out. She wouldn't be too bad in the Gym, depending on what Pokemon Elesa was using. Since his team was enough to win out over local competition for the PWT opening, he felt confident with going into the Nimbasa Gym soon.

That meant that a fair part of the day he spent with Curtis in town, deciding on how he should look. As might be expected, the music star knew a lot about fashion. "I spoke a lot with the wardrobe people over the years and picked up a lot of things from them," he said while they were looking over shirts. "You should start with the image you want to project and work from there. With me, they wanted me cheerful, wholesome, and idealistic, so I got pushed on a lot of colors and not showing much skin. You're pretty serious, so I was thinking maybe something that could be worn in an office, and darker colors. But I don't think we should take it too far in that direction and end up near goth territory."

"Actually, I'm trying to not be that serious anymore," Nate said. "But old habits die hard. You think some kind of business suit?"

"Hmm, well..." he looked around, then spotted some button-up shirts that had various designs all over them, like dragons, flames, and even vines. "Hey, let's try one of these on you. Some pants to match, both fitting well... it's not as serious as a business suit, but not as casual as a t-shirt. And some black shoes; you'd probably want to take off the visor, though."

Nate shrugged. "The Gym's indoors, so I don't mind that."

While they were looking for the pieces they wanted, Curtis started giving him other advice. "Oh, hold your neck up more when you walk. You're leaning your head forward a little, but it looks better when you keep a straight posture. Keep your shoulders open too so you look more confident. It's a small change, but you come out looking more attractive like that."

"I hadn't been thinking about that," Nate said, adjusting how he held himself. "I knew that keeping a confident posture could help you feel more confident, but I don't normally think about it."

"You're keeping a slightly hunched defensive posture, like someone who reads a lot," he said, pushing Nate's shoulder back a little. "It's just what your body is used to, but you can train yourself. Think about how you're standing and walking at times. Eventually your body and unconscious mind will adjust to how you want to be. Then you can work on how you speak and react to others to make them like you better on initial impressions."

Nate chuckled. "What is this, charm school boot camp?"

Curtis laughed at that; he was having a lot of fun. "No, because then I'd have to get more critical and intense about it. I spent years learning about this when my parents were prepping me for the music business, so I'm more conscious of it than most people. But I'd like to help you learn a bit if you want. I think it could help you a lot."

"It could. Hey, how much has Rosa told you about me? Like where I came from."

"She told me some of it around when you were in the hospital in Castelia," he said. "That you were from another world, right? And you need to get people to like you for some reason."

He nodded. This was an odd place to be talking like this, he thought, in the middle of the shoe aisle of a department store. Then again, the other customers were too busy with their own shopping to pay them much heed. "Right. Actually, I'm certain now that I'm from a world like this one, but with a very different recent history, a bad one. If I want to stay here, I need to get enough people to care about me. I think, somewhere in Unova, there's a person who's just like me because he is me. If I encounter him, it might cause some paradox problems and the powers that be could kick me back to my original world."

"But if you get enough people that care about you, they might let you stay instead?" Curtis guessed.

"That's what I think. I just hope that it doesn't try to kick out my alternate self or anything." He shrugged. "So maybe you're right. If you do help me, it might be enough."

Curtis gave him a thoughtful look, then shook his head. "No, don't be thinking that it might be enough. It will be enough."

"Well it's not certain because," Nate started to say.

But Curtis pointed at him and stopped him. "You can have your doubts, but keep them to private, with those of us who are your friends. Out here, keep confident in yourself. Think about it. You're the owner of a shopping mall that's quickly becoming popular. You've been in a movie short that has been quite successful and people want to see more of that series with you and Rosa. You're shortly going after your fourth Pokemon League badge and you have such faith in your Pokemon that you know that it's not going to be a problem. You're going to be participating in a tournament that has been gathering worldwide interest due to the fantastic potential that it's promising. So you don't really know all that much about your past, so what? Right here and right now, you are doing amazingly well and you can be proud of how you've come along. And you don't even need to tell people about it. Just let it show in how you move and how you look and people will become really interested in supporting you. That will convince anyone that you're worth being allowed to stay in this world."

He's right, Nate realized. He had been able to accomplish quite a lot even though he'd only been in this world for less than a year. But, "As long as I don't come across as vain, I don't mind."

"That shouldn't be a problem, unless you change inwardly a lot," Curtis said. For the rest of their shopping trip, he kept Nate being attentive to how he was walking and standing, as well as giving him other tips.

In the evening, he checked with the Gym and found that he could challenge them then. So he did, with his hair freshly trimmed and his new outfit: a white shirt with red flame patterns, black pants, and black shoes. While it might not be top fashion, he had to admit that he looked better with this over his usual outfit. He might be mistaken for a Trainer who favored Fire Pokemon when he only had one, but that could turn to his advantage. Rosa and Curtis came along to watch in the audience.

It was like they had said: he entered at the end of a long catwalk and fought three Gym Trainers on the way. That included the one he had defeated this morning, although she had a weaker team than before. As he went along, the music intensified, adding extra drama to the event. The audience section was rather dark, but people were there cheering and clapping. In contrast, the catwalk had many spotlights: on him, on the Gym Trainers, and on the Pokemon. And now, close to a dozen spotlights on Elesa, standing in front of an enormous screen flashing colorful logos. She wore a thick pale yellow fur coat over a yellow and cyan dress, with matching cyan flat-soled shoes. Her long black hair trailed down her sides, a pair of sparking black cords hiding there oddly enough. With her graceful walk, Nate doubted that she got many challengers who could match her glamor.

"It's fantastic to see you here, Nate," Elesa said as she stopped in a good position for battle. "I've heard a lot of good things about you, although I didn't expect such a fashionable showing from you."

He might have brushed that off before, but talking with Curtis earlier inspired him to respond, "I want my Pokemon to look at their best, so I felt I should go along with the show."

She smiled in approval of that. "Very good. Shall we get on with the battle then? Declare your Pokemon. I have three."

"I have five," he said, taking hold of Cathy's Pokeball. He felt that she might be good to see what Pokemon Elesa brought out first, then decide how he wanted to run things.

Nodding, she reached her right hand up to the left shoulder of the fur coat. "Good, then," she whipped the coat off her shoulders and flung it aside, accompanied by a change in the music being played over the speakers. The cheers from the audience swelled. "Let's begin."

Did she do that for every battle? Nate wondered about that briefly before focusing on leading the battle. The Petlil came out with a cheerful call and a bouncing of her leaves while Elesa's Pokemon, an Emolga, came out in the air, made a quick twirling glide around its Trainer, then drifted forward into position. He started with trying to paralyze the Emolga (didn't work), while Elesa had the Emolga use Pursuit, apparently anticipating that he'd try switching. Even though switching was risky knowing that move was there, he decided to go ahead and switch to Signet. She also switched, but using a move that allowed the Emolga to attack Cathy before it was recalled. Elesa now had a Zebstrika.

That became a problem as it also knew Pursuit, which hit the Golett strongly. Not only that, but Nate was hoping that Magnitude would work out. It turned out to have random damage increments just like in the games, so the first attempt ended up with both him and Elesa having to spend a round healing their Pokemon. The second attack knocked the Zebstrika out, but she just called out the Emolga to focus on Pursuit as well. Since Magnitude wouldn't work on the squirrel, he considered switching briefly before having Signet go with Mega Punch. That worked and then Elesa had to bring out a Flaafy who seemed to be incapable of doing anything to Signet save for trying to paralyze him.

And like he thought, his team earned the fourth Gym badge.


	29. Strange Child

June 25

Driftveil Drawbridge

It was a bright morning as they crossed over the drawbridge, with the sun reflecting off the bay through a cluster of clouds. While they could have taken their bikes, there was a nice breeze and they were talking enough that it was easier to walk than bike. Some of their Pokemon were walking with them, with Grim flying in and out of the bridge calling to other Duckletts around. "Where do you guys need to go to look for Hilda?" Curtis asked.

"The trouble is that we're not sure," Nate said. "But White Forest seems suspicious, as she was in that area the last few days she was in this world."

"We're moving away from there by going to Driftviel," Rosa said. "Not by a lot, but still. Then again, if our teams get stronger while we're here, we'll have an easier time making it through the forest."

"Do you know what she was looking for?" Curtis shrugged. "Just trying to help, but I still don't know what all is going on."

Nate shrugged. "It's fine. It's good to review the facts from time to time. She was looking for Keldeo, that's one thing we know."

"I was in Aspertia and they would've have found me at the time," Rosa said.

"I'm worried that she can't come back until I figure out how she ended up in my world," Nate said. "So I don't want to delay the search. But not knowing where she was more than just the forest, it would help to have a strong team with me."

"Siiiirrru," Rune called unexpectedly. He had been flying overhead, but came closer to the bridge and ahead of them.

"That's odd," Nate said. "He's normally quiet."

"Even if you know them, Pokemon can surprise you," Curtis said, watching where the Sigilyph was headed.

There was a young boy ahead of them that Nate wouldn't have paid much heed too; he had short black hair and was playing kickball by himself. Once Rune called out, though, the boy immediately turned his attention to the Sigilyph. He smiled and jumped around, apparently trying to catch Rune's colorful feathers. Rune seemed rather friendly with him, not minding much while he kept his tail from being grabbed.

Rosa laughed at it. "Hey kid, play nice, okay?"

As they were getting close, the boy paused and looked at them, then back up at Rune. Rune talked with him some more. Somehow, the boy seemed to understand, smiling and coming over to them curiously.

"Are you friends with Rune already?" Rosa asked. "He's traveling with Nate now."

The boy nodded, but didn't get a chance to say anything as a siren filled the air. "The drawbridge will be raising in five minutes," a recording said. "All pedestrians please clear the bridge."

"Looks like we need to hurry," Nate said. "Don't forget your ball, kid."

Acting like he was used to this, he nodded, then ran off and kicked the ball back towards Driftveil rather than picking it up. The three teens and their Pokemon ran after the kid. While it was a long bridge, they had plenty of time. Glancing off to the side, Nate noticed a barge coming from the north. Then a memory flashed through his mind.

…

He poked his head out from underneath the couch, looking up at the people talking. It was the usual people he knew, but there was also a girl he didn't see very often. Still, he knew Hilda was a nice human who could come up with lots of fun pranks. Sometimes he wondered if he should follow her around, but she had a lot of Pokemon who were already close to her. For now, he'd stick with living here.

One of his human friends was telling a story. "Days passed and their friends hadn't heard any more from the couple. A few of them went to the house to check things out and found them together, dead in one of the bedrooms. Not only that, but all the strange events they spoke of seemed to be true. The house was cursed, although it'd take more tragedy before some of the truth could be uncovered."

"That definitely sounds like the real deal," Hilda said. "Where is this haunted house?"

The man seemed to be reluctant for a moment, but eventually said, "It was in an odd place; you don't hear much about it, so the name of it... Letimas, that's it. It's close to Twist Mountain, but it's such a small town that hardly anyone talks about it."

"Actually, I heard of them just yesterday," one of the women said. "They finally got a Pokecenter built there. That's how little goes on in Letimas."

"Could be interesting to check out," Hilda said, looking to Kyurem to see what he thought of it.

"Ghosts don't scare me," he said.

Ghosts didn't scare him either.

…

Nate heard a mechanical grinding behind him. Also, he was no longer running. He turned and saw that the bridge was beginning to lift up. He rubbed his head. "Did I space out again?"

"Completely," Rosa said. "We had to pull you across, but at least you kept running on your own. What was it this time?"

"Oddly enough, it might've been a hint. Hilda may have checked out a place near Letimas, some tiny town that's near Twist Mountain."

"Letimas?" Rosa asked.

"Tiny would be a good description of it," Curtis said. "I saw it once from a plane. It'd be hard to reach."

"Where did that kid go?" Nate felt that if he could figure out who had told Hilda the story, he might get more information on the haunted house before they went. After all, they didn't want to end up disappearing too. But as he looked around at the small island they were on, he didn't see the kid. There were some trees as well as a large statue of a crescent moon. On the other side, there was a shorter bridge that led into Driftveil itself.

Curtis pointed to the shorter bridge. "I think he kept running that way. Why? If you want to ask him questions, well, he doesn't seem that talkative."

"He might be able to bring us to someone who will talk with us," Nate said, heading to the bridge. Rune flew ahead, but stopped partway across.

The kid had stopped too; he was watching a pair of adults nearby. One of them, dressed in a gray t-shirt and gray-blue jeans, was standing with one hand on the bridge railing, looking as if torn between staying and running. "It doesn't sound the same," he said.

The other one was dressed in all black and gray, with a black jacket draped over one arm. In particular, it was the uniform of the new Team Plasma members. "That's because we're better, having got rid of all the unnecessary stuff," he said, his voice rising in volume. "We're after even greater things now and you'll be sorry if you aren't on our side. But I can talk them into letting you back in."

"I don't know..."

Of course, this scene didn't sit too well with Rosa. "Hey, don't be mean to him," she said, walking ahead of Nate and the odd boy to where the two of them were. Nate and Curtis hurried up after her.

"This really has nothing to do with you," the man in gray said, turning to them and noticing the boy. "Oh, there you are. What have you been up to?" The boy ran up to him, although wary of the other man.

"People are going to find out about you sooner or later," the Plasma man said, causing his old friend to tense up.

"I told you to stop being mean," Rosa said, starting to reach for her sword. "Whatever you Plasma jerks are up to this time, don't force it on anybody else."

"But he was in Plasma too, two years ago," he said, backing off towards Driftveil.

"I left, with everybody else," the man in gray insisted, glancing over at the raised drawbridge. The boy at his side growled, the first noise Nate had heard out of the kid.

A shadow flew past the bridge and with no more warning than that, Hugh dropped off the back of a Tranquill and landed between Rosa and the two from Plasma. "Doesn't matter, both of you are going to pay for your crimes," he said.

"You, again?!" the one in black said, clenching a fist in agitation.

"Hugh?" Rosa asked, surprised to see him.

The man in gray backed up closer to the edge of the bridge. "I left," he insisted. "That was what Lord N wanted for us."

"Forget that idiot," the man in black said. "Boy, I'm going to get the better of you one of these days. We won't stand for your interference."

"You haven't been doing well against me yet," Hugh said, but his threat was soon eclipsed by Rosa bringing out her sword behind him. That got the attention of everyone but Hugh, who couldn't see it.

"W-wait," the man in black said, taking another step back. "Y-you're the girl who nearly beat the Shadow? I'm out of here." Then he bolted into Driftveil.

"Hey, get back here coward!" Hugh called, starting to run after him.

But then Rosa angrily struck the back of his head with her arm. "Hugh, where in the world have you been all this time?!"

"Who's that?" Curtis said, watching the altercation with uncertain worry. Close by, Hugh's Tranquill gave a warning chatter, not liking that his Trainer was attacked.

"A friend of hers," Nate said, then considered how it might be taken. "Not a boyfriend, don't worry."

"Uh, I didn't ask about that," he said, scratching his head and a little embarrassed.

"You might have." He looked over the scene there: Rosa scolding Hugh, Hugh knocked onto the bridge and startled to see her angry and with a sword, Curtis not sure about this, the man in gray still looking like he wanted to flee but staying where he was, the strange kid looking up to the man in gray. "He could use the scolding, but we should make sure Rosa doesn't get carried away and hurt Hugh."

"Yeah," Curtis said, starting to walk over to her and watch for a moment when he might get her to calm down.

While they were distracted, Nate went over to the man in gray and the kid. "You might want to slip out of here while they're not paying attention to you," he suggested quietly. "Be careful in case the other guy is still around."

"Right, thanks," the man replied quietly, looking down.

"I won't tell anybody who you were," Nate said. "I'll try to talk to my friends, at least to get them not to bother any of you."

He nodded. "Thanks... he was my best friend for a while, actually, but... never mind, I really should go." He waved to the kid. "Come on Felix, everyone's worried about you."

The boy smiled, then walked after the man in gray to leave the bridge. But he left his kickball behind, so Nate picked it up. With them taken care of, he checked on how the others were doing. Rosa still had her sword out, but she wasn't quite as angry now. "Just where have you been? I was worried about you. You never called or sent me a message, and you hardly gave any word to your parents and Violet. Something bad could have happened to you and we'd not know about it until too late."

Picking himself off the ground now that she let him, Hugh said, "I've been tracking down the Team Plasma members. I've been following that guy around Driftveil for a week now, although not consistently enough to find where they've been meeting up here. I know I'm looking for one of the Shadow Triad, but finding them is going to be down to luck, I think."

"Those people are dangerous; you shouldn't mess with them."

"But the Purrloin," he started to say.

"We all need to get stronger teams together if we're gonna try," Rosa said.

"Coooo," the Tranquill said, puffing up his wings.

"Hey, it's all right," Hugh said to the Pokemon. "She's a friend, believe it or not." Then he turned back to Rosa. "Plasma is gathering up power again, that much is obvious to me. I've been challenging them to grow stronger. But, you already nearly defeated one?"

She looked at her sword, then reverted it to its tiny state to put it away. "Kind of. Well, I got in a sword and knife fight with one and I managed to draw blood. Wasn't much of a victory, since I got cut too."

"That's crazy, I mean, how did you learn to fight with a sword well enough to do that?" Hugh scratched his head, looking at them.

"If you'd kept in contact, you'd know how," Nate said.

"Okay okay, I'm sorry," he said. "I was really focused on my goal and there were days when a phone call would have risked my position being found. So what have you two been up to? And, who are you?"

"I'm Curtis, a new friend of theirs." He smiled and offered a handshake.

Hugh took it, but seemed to not quite trust him. "Okay... I'm Hugh. You'd better not be messing with Rosa. She's like another sister to me."

"I wouldn't hurt her, believe me," Curtis said, a little offended.

"It's fine, let's not fight," Rosa insisted.

"Says the girl who just clobbered her old friend," Nate said, chuckling. "I'm kidding you. Hugh, we'll tell you what we've been up to, but you have to tell us what you've been up to."

He nodded. "Fine. I haven't really been paying attention to League news, but I heard some people talking about you the other day, Nate."

They explained their story, eventually moving back to the island between the bridges to keep out of the way of other travelers. Just past the line of trees, there was a rocky slope that led down into the bay waters. This led to most of Rosa's Pokemon heading down there to go play in the water. Patience followed them down out of curiosity, so River soon joined her on the small island bank while Rune kept an eye out on all of them from overhead. Meanwhile, the Spiritomb Spectra preferred to hide in a tree near the drawbridge and rustle its branches to spook people.

"Then you're going to find some haunted house in Letimas?" Hugh asked, sitting with the rest of them and toying with the grass.

Nate still had the kickball resting on the ground beside him. "I feel like it should be checked out. I'm expected to be here in mid-August for the PWT stadium opening weekend, but until then I'm free."

"It's not going to be easy to get out there," Curtis said, checking a map on his old Xtransciever. "I'm almost certain that the subway doesn't stop there and from the looks of things, the only real road to it is through Twist Mountain from Undella. Looks like there's an airport, but even a short airplane hop could be expensive."

"You could possibly fly there with a Pokemon like my Tranquill," Hugh said.

"I know Rune can use Fly," Nate said. "Grim will be able to eventually, when we find an HM to teach him to. But there's three of us, or four if you want to come Hugh."

He shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. I suppose I could let you borrow Tam here for a while. But, I borrowed an HM in the first place, so I can't help you teach that Ducklett."

"Maybe we should call Hilbert and N to help us out," Rosa suggested. "They're looking for Hilda too. I think they already searched White Forest, maybe even Letimas. But, you're the one with the Memory Link and we don't want you trying to trigger it on your own."

Nate nodded. "I don't want to be on my own, especially if it concerns a notorious haunted house."

"Maybe it's just infested with Ghost Pokemon," Curtis said, glancing back at the tree Spectra was hiding in. "A colony of them could cause trouble. Even then, you wouldn't want to be alone around them."

Nate tapped the kickball, thinking. "I would like to know more about the house itself before we go to Letimas. I can think of a source, but that means I have to find that kid again, both for that and to return his ball." However, that would require him to talk Rosa and especially Hugh into giving the former Plasma members a chance to talk for themselves. He needed a bit more time to think over that. Which meant, "But now it's your turn to explain what you've been up to."

Hugh nodded. "All right. Well back during the incident in the Castelia sewers, one of the Plasma goons I chased after dropped an offer card for a cafe in Undella Town. You know, one of those where you buy certain items to get punch marks on the card, then when it's full you get a freebie. It had several punches, so I planned on checking it out. I headed over there by subway and asked around, finding out that these black-clothed Plasma members had been spotted coming from the north, but nobody was sure who they were or what they were about. Some days there wouldn't be any, but other days there'd be several who passed through Undella.

"I checked out the area north of Undella, but while I ran into a few of them, I never figured out where they were based out of. They seemed to be checking out artifacts, looking for something. Then they didn't show for ten days, so I headed back to Castelia and checked out the sewers and tunnels again. And in those tunnels, probably halfway between there and here, I ran into a group of five of them. Vino and my other Pokemon were able to defeat three of them, but the others split.

"In the days after that, I overheard some of them talking about the tournament opening weekend. They seem to be interested in it for some reason, probably to cause trouble. I wanted to be there to interfere with whatever they had planned, so I attended a mixed tournament of Pokemon battling and karate."

"Pretty tricky of you, given you have a Tranquill and a Servine," Nate commented.

Hugh shrugged. "Still wasn't easy since there were participants that had higher ranks in karate than me and you had to be skilled in both. But I succeeded and was selected to move on to the next selection round, with other groups around Unova. Thankfully it won't involve any more karate, so if my team wins tomorrow's battles, we get to be in the opening weekend tournament as well. For now, I've been following the one guy in black to see if I can find where they're gathering. No luck so far, and now I lost him."

"Sorry about that," Rosa said. "But then if I hadn't made you stop, when would you have talked to us again?"

"I'll call you more often, okay? Just to check in. Maybe before the stadium opening."

"Once a week would be better," she said. "And make sure to call your parents too."

"I will. But..." he looked at Rosa and added, "Are you really Keldeo? That just seems so weird; I wouldn't have guessed that at all."

"It does, but it's true," she said.

"We have Reshiram's confirmation on it, and she cut a waterfall in half yesterday," Nate said.

"I guess that would be how you got that sword." He looked over at where the Pokemon were playing below. "Man, I don't know if to be disappointed or glad that I'm not working on your side of things. Sounds like you've got into some interesting things, but then you're investigating a haunted house and one of you is actually a Pokemon in disguise... hard to see how anything normal can be accepted for what it appears after that."

"Maybe there's a lot of things around that look normal but really aren't," Curtis said. "We won't know until we start looking."

"I kind of like things normal. Well, I'd like to get back to finding that guy from Plasma again. Or maybe I should look for that other guy instead. It could be a new lead."

"The one who was wearing gray?" Nate asked. "Leave him be."

Hugh frowned. "Why? He was in Team Plasma too."

"He was, but he's not now." Nate gave him a stern look. "And from the look of things, I'm pretty sure he'd rather be left alone and won't be causing trouble."

Hugh shot him back the same look. "You're still trusting the look of things? What matters is that he was in Plasma and so he has crimes he needs to be held accountable for as well."

"How do you know that? I'm pretty sure that the courts have stated that most of the ones who no longer associate with Plasma don't have to be held accountable for what the whole group did."

"They're fools for going along with that," Hugh said. "I bet those ones are lying to keep out of trouble."

"What if they're telling the truth and they're not responsible for the greater crimes of Plasma?"

"Hey, why are you taking their side?" Rosa asked, not mad at him but more disappointed. "They were pretty rotten people."

Curtis coughed, then said, "Well, maybe he has a point."

"How can they not be responsible for what they did?" Hugh asked.

"You're asking to punish individuals for what a group did," Curtis said. "From what I saw back then, a lot of them seemed to really think they were doing the right thing. They were fooled by corrupted ones at the top. Besides, didn't you hear what that man said? That he left because that's what Lord N wanted? The courts decided that N had been manipulated and kept in the dark about what other members of his group were doing. So if even their stated leader was innocent and being manipulated, how many others in that group were the same way?"

Nate nodded. "Those ones must be having a pretty rough time now, because most everyone looks down on them for falling for it. I agree that the new form of Team Plasma is probably still rotten, but the ones who left shouldn't be harassed because of them."

Hugh didn't seem comfortable with that. "I wouldn't trust them," he said.

"Well, they did leave, so maybe," Rosa said. Then she shrugged. "We can't really know, because the former members wouldn't reveal themselves readily, and so we can't ask them."

Picking up the kickball, Nate twirled it in his hands. "Actually, we can let them speak for themselves. I think I know how to find the former members of Team Plasma that live around here."

"How?" Rosa asked, confused that he'd know.

"Well I'm not going to tell you two unless you promise to listen to them and then to not cause them problems as long as they're being decent citizens." Even if he didn't remember his past all that well yet, Nate felt rather strongly about those who may have been his peers. Sort of, in the sense that this was two different histories.

Hugh put his face in his hands and grumbled. Rosa still seemed uncertain for a moment, then nodded. "Okay, I'll listen, I promise. If they realized they were doing the wrong thing and left for that reason, then they'd be all right." She looked over at her old friend. "Don't you think so?"

"Sure, I'll give them a chance to explain themselves," Hugh said. "I promise too. They'd better be good people now."

"Good thanks. Hey Rune!" He stood up, waiting for the Sigilyph to fly closer. "Would you help us find that kid again?"

Rune had to ponder that for a couple of moments, but then gave a signal that he could. Once Rosa called the rest of the Pokemon out of the water, they headed into Driftveil and to the north. There was a lot of new construction around, particularly the group of hotels in the southern half of the town. Some buildings were still being finished, even with the tournament stadium opening in less than a month. Over the time that they had been here, the sky had grown more gray with clouds, indicating that it was due to rain sometime later.

At the very northernmost street in Driftveil, Rune led them up a staircase onto a forested plateau. The Gym was not far to the east. Past the trees, there seemed to be a couple of cabins hiding up here, as well as a lodge not too far ahead. It was quieter up here, with fewer people milling around. It included the man in gray from the bridge. He was kneeling to pet a black canine Pokemon who seemed sad about something, crouching down with his ears low. But as soon as Rune whistled, the other Pokemon's demeanor changed. He charged to them, barking happily and glowing. By the time he reached them, the Pokemon was that odd kid again, looking at Nate and the ball with wide begging eyes.

"I thought you weren't human," Nate said.

The Pokemon boy immediately stuck his tongue out at Nate, but got excited when he held the ball up. Nate threw it along the ground, causing the illusion to dissipate once more as the Pokemon tumbled right into the ball. "Oh, that's pretty good for a Zorua," Curtis said. "Most of them can't imitate human expressions until they evolve."

The man in gray hesitated, but then came up to them. "Thanks for bringing his ball here. I thought that was how he got away again, chasing it all over town."

"Really?" Rosa asked. "We first saw him about halfway across Driftveil Drawbridge."

"All that way?" After the initial surprise, he shook his head. "Man, we really can't take an eye off that Zorua. He keeps getting further and further away. I hope he didn't cause you any trouble."

"Not really, he was just playing," Rosa said.

"You Plasma... formerly Plasma people are staying here?" Hugh asked, thankfully keeping his temper in check here. "What've you got Pokemon around here for, then?"

"The separation of Pokemon and humans was a ruse to some of the Sages," the man said. "Others of us really believed in it. Still, there were actually quite a lot of Pokemon within Team Plasma. Felix over there was all right, but some of the others had been hurt pretty badly. It was awful and a lot of us had no idea they were being treated like that. Not even Lord N; he would've hated it. Then there's those that were stolen, but never reclaimed. We've been taking care of them here while we, um, try to figure out what to do now."

"I've talked with my friends here and we'd like to hear more about your side of things," Nate said. "Is there anyone in particular we can speak with?"

"That's good, um," he rubbed his chin. "Let me go find our leader around here. He should be able to make some time for you. But, please stay around here. Some of the others get really nervous when we have visitors. I'll be back in a bit." He then headed off to the lodge there.

"Would they really feel that threatened by visitors?" Hugh asked.

"I guess if people were villainizing us, then I'd want to be careful around people who don't know me well," Rosa said. "But I would hope that I'm not doing anything villain-worthy in the first place."

Nate gestured towards the lodge. "Well you heard him; they really believed in what they were doing."

"Why are you on their side?" Hugh asked, watching him with some suspicion.

Did he really want to say this now? Maybe Rosa could be reasoned with, but Hugh was going to be hard to convince. Nate's hope was to get Hugh to not bother the former Plasma members. "I told you, I'm from another history of this world. And, I think I was on their side at some point."

"You were?" Hugh asked, his suspicion turning sharper.

"But, you're a good person," Rosa said, starting to fiddle with one of her ponytails. "You couldn't have been... you don't seem like it anyhow."

Nate shook his head. "Maybe I don't seem like it now, but a lot happened to me. I probably changed. A few of the things I remember point to my connection to Plasma, and since N was my close friend there, it would be highly unlikely that I wasn't with them."

"Would you remember anyone here?" Curtis asked.

He shrugged. "I might. But even here, they wore uniforms and might be hard to recognize out of them. Maybe if it was someone I knew well."

"Thanks for waiting," the man from earlier said, coming back with someone else, someone with gray hair who looked all too familiar. But wasn't he... no, that was in the other world. "This is one of the leaders who runs the rehabilitation program those of us living here are going through, Sage..."

"Rood, right?" Nate said, his head starting to swirl with pain. He put his hand on his head, for a moment not sure what to do.

Rood nodded, looking at him with curiosity and puzzlement. "Yes. And you... I feel like I should know you. Your face is familiar, but I can't put a name to it."

"I'm going by Nate, but that's not my name," he said. "I don't remember my name, but you... you look older than you should because you made Ghetsis mad and he used an artifact belonging to Dialga to add about twenty years to your body."

"Rood?" the former Plasma member asked, confused.

"That's what happened, but nobody else should know about it," Rood said. "Who are you, really?"

He shook his head once and grimaced. "I, I don't know."

Rosa took his arm. "Nate... Hey, would you mind bringing him somewhere inside where it's quiet? He should rest."

"I saw you die," Nate said to Rood, wondering what was going on. "What happened?"

"Okay, we'll bring him inside," Rood said, waving for them to follow him into the lodge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, at the end of ClicheStorm, I had a kinda-contest to name this particular Zorua. He showed up at the Dragonspiral Tower scene for some fun interaction with N, which I added due to how Rood gives you a Zorua around this time in the game. While it is labeled as one of N's Pokemon, N had a Zoroark in the first games.  
> And our winning name is Felix, with the meaning of happiness and connotation of being lucky. This was actually suggested by two people, unless it was the same person on both sites: Chewiana Jones on serebii (because it just seemed to fit, and the lucky aspect) and Airmd15 on fanfiction net (because the Zorua was lucky to run into Rune and has a happy disposition). I also have to add that it seems like a reasonable name for Rood to give the Zorua because it was in an event that was rather important to N's eventual happiness.  
> Other interesting names suggested were Zivan (with a meaning of vigorous and active, due to being hyperactive), Zahid, Zorro (a name a lot of Zoruas get, I imagine), Lucky (in honor of another Pokemon), Veritas (because he helped bring N to the truth), and Dragoon (because he witnessed the arrival of Zekrom and Reshiram).


	30. The Former Plasma Camp

June 25

Driftviel

"I know Clay said he'd give us extra consideration, but he's not the only one doing the stadium hiring," a woman said. "I'm almost certain that the reason I didn't get the receptionist job is because I wouldn't tell them what I'd been doing the past three years."

"Well we need to start again somewhere," another woman said. "And they're going to be hiring a lot of people shortly. We shouldn't miss this chance. I'm worried too, but, we have to try."

Unknown to them, others were listening in on their conversation. N stood by a tree, having paused to watch them for a short while. Zekrom was in her human form on the other side of the tree, tracing her finger over the bark while she was in deep thought. At N's feet, the Zoroark Zane was maintaining an illusion that kept the three of them invisible. His other Pokemon were scattered through the woods, waiting to be called back.

"They're having a hard time too," N thought aloud. "But, at least they stuck together. That helps."

"Do you want to come out and talk with them?" Zane asked, looking up at him.

N crouched down, his stomach feeling queasy with anxiety. "I don't know. Sounds like a few of them miss me, but, I'm not sure I can face them yet." He put his face in his hands. "If I could get Ghetsis held responsible for what he did, then maybe I could make up to them for leading them blindly. But I can't find him. Can't find Hilda or Kyurem either." How could he call himself a hero or a king if he couldn't even do that? A feeling of misery gripped him again. "She'd probably tell me to stop being a coward and just talk to them."

"Do you want to?" Zane asked again, patient.

In a way, he really wanted to. These people... he felt like they would accept his apologies, maybe even help him again. But what if he would just lead them the wrong way again because he wasn't sure of the right way? "No," he said, feeling defeated by himself.

The excited barks of a Pokemon got his attention, as well as the two women he'd been hiding from. It came from a Zorua who transformed into a little boy and stopped in front of four teenagers, his focus entirely on an orange ball in one of the guy's hands. Accompanying the teens were a few Pokemon, including a familiar Sigilyph. Zane looked over. "Hmmm."

"Is that Rune?" N wondered. "And... that pup of yours."

"I think that's them," Zane said, sitting up. The Zorua was now yipping excitedly while he tumbled with a ball, closer to them.

"Then one of them must be Nate, and the girl... that's the reborn Keldeo, isn't she?"

"Huh?" Zekrom said, coming out of her mind and looking at them. She then looked over at the teens, along with the man in gray that they were talking with. "Oh... yes, that's her. I wonder what they're doing."

"They were following the League challenge, according to Cheren," N said, sitting down. "They're probably here to prepare for Clay."

"Hey," the Zorua said, pausing in his play and looking up at their general area. He took a few steps closer. "Who's making illusions around my home? I'll fight you!"

"Come over here," Zane said.

Pricking up his ears, the Zorua bounded into their illusionary hiding spot. His tail immediately wagged. "Oh, father, and N! Good to see you again!"

"Hush," Zane ordered.

N rubbed the Zorua's head. "Good to see you too. What are you doing these days?"

"I'm a guard Pokemon," the Zorua said proudly. "A lot of people and Pokemon here were scared and confused for a while, but they're getting better. I protected this place for them. Although, since lots more are getting better, there's other Pokemon who protect everybody too, and I've been getting a little bored. I wanna go out on an adventure with a Trainer! But nobody else here wants to do that. Can I go with you, huh? I'm stronger, and getting stronger too!"

"You need to keep quiet in an illusion, or you'll break it," Zane said.

"Oh, sorry," he said, quieting down. "I was just so happy to see you again." His tail wagged again. "And you know what? Now I even bring happiness."

"You do?" N asked.

"Yup. The sage man, um, Rood, he said I needed a name, so he named me Felix, which means happiness. So you take me with you and you'll get happiness too."

That was clever of Rood, N thought. But he wasn't sure just a Zorua could bring happiness in his situation. "I hope you live up to that name. But, I shouldn't really take you with me. I've got a number of Pokemon friends who travel with me already."

Felix's ears drooped. "Aw. Well, I'll have to keep looking for somebody to bring happiness to."

"Hello?" Rune asked, flying up to them. He came into the tree, thus into the area he could see into. "It is you all. Hello again, N, Zane."

N got onto his feet so he could reach the branch Rune was landing on. "Hello again, Rune. It's good to see you well. What are you doing now?" He petted the Sigilyph's side.

Rune cooed softly. "I'm traveling with someone else, Nate. I missed you greatly, and then I met him. Nate has the power to look into the memories of those around him, but he can barely see the memories in his own mind. At first, I went with him because he remembered someone like you and I thought I might find you again."

"That sort of worked," N said. "I've heard of him, but he doesn't seem to want to meet with me just yet."

"I know, it's... hard to decide if you should." Rune made his eyestalk bow. "It's nice to see you, but I want to travel with Nate for a while longer. He's searching for the truth about himself, and I'm a servant of the dragon of truth. Plus, he's like you in some ways, thoughtful and considerate about us Pokemon. I want to help him."

N nodded. "Than you should do that. You're a really good Pokemon for that."

"But why wouldn't he want to meet N?" Felix asked. "If they're both nice Trainers, then they would get along."

"Nate's memories can cause him pain," Rune said. "In more than one meaning of the idea. Now that I've been with him a while, I don't think Nate really knew you as you are here. He knew N as someone with scales on his hands."

That caused some unfortunate memories to come to the surface of N's mind. "Scales? You mean, like white on one hand, black on the other?"

Rune blinked in affirmation. "Yes. It does sound like the one you've met before. Even so..." he abruptly tensed, looking over at Nate's group. "Sorry, I have to go. Nate's confused again." Rune then took off from the tree to rejoin the group.

As most of the others had left the area, N had a clear look as Rood and Rosa led Nate into the lodge building, followed by the two other teens and their Pokemon. He thought for a moment about just letting them be; Hilbert would be expecting to meet up with him outside of Driftveil sometime soon. But he hadn't seen Rood here yet and there might be a chance to speak with Nate here. "Let's follow them in," he said. "Are you coming, Zekrom?"

"Sure," she said listlessly. She didn't seem interested in doing much today, but also didn't want to be on her own. N took her hand and walked with her across the yard.

The group had shut the door behind them, but Felix was able to jump up and twist the handle to get it open. That made it less suspicious as Zane was still cloaking all but the Zorua. Inside, there was a large room with a ring of couches, a mammoth fireplace, a coat rack made to look like branches, and an inactive stereo system. Despite the amount of space, there were only two humans in here: the two other boys.

"It's just that Zorua again," the black-haired boy said, getting up from his seat and shutting the door. "Can't you close the door behind you?"

"Nope!" Felix barked, wagging his tail.

"They must be treating them well since they're so friendly," the purple-haired boy said, scratching the chin of a Patrat that had come close to him.

Then Rood and Rosa came into the room from a doorway not too far from where N had stopped with Zekrom. "I don't know how long he'll want to rest," the girl said as they went to sit with the other two.

"He's okay to stay here for a few hours," Rood said. "I don't want to turn away someone in trouble, especially not someone who's been kind to us before."

"He's been helping you?" the black-haired boy asked, raising an eyebrow. N observed him. He'd been trying to learn to pick up the intentions and emotions of others, like Hilbert could. However, to N it was far easier doing so with Pokemon.

"Hugh, just listen for now," Rosa said.

"You're his friends, so you know about his ability to see memories," Rood said. "He's picked out those of us who were in Plasma through that ability, but he was fair about it. There's one man that we lost track of, but Nate got him back to us."

"Then what is this group about now?" the purple-haired boy asked, more level-headed than the other two.

Rood paused for a moment in through, then started his explanation. "To understand that, you need to understand what we were. Ultimately Team Plasma was a facade for the ambitions of only one of us, Ghetsis. He wanted control and power, over the whole world if he had remained unchecked. For many of the people who live here, if they had known that, they wouldn't have been a part of it. But they believed in the facade and saw nothing past it. I believed in it for a long time, until my daughter Hilda brought me back to reality." He rubbed his nose as he said this.

"But why would they believe in that nonsense about separating humans and Pokemon?" Hugh asked.

"We loved Pokemon and didn't want them in pain," N said softly.

"It's because of pain, and indoctrination," Rood said at the same time. "The way that Pokemon training works now can easily be warped into a vision of cruelty. Sometimes it is truly cruel and painful; that is what N wanted to stop. However, he had been treated to a life of cruelty by his father Ghetsis and believed the problem was far worse than it was. He loved Pokemon and wanted the cruelty to stop. And when he spoke of it, it touched other people and they believed him, not realizing that N's every move and word was guided one way or another by Ghetsis.

"For a great many of us, we joined Plasma's efforts because we also loved Pokemon and didn't want them to suffer needless pain. And many of the people were suffering themselves, from personal problems, relationship conflicts, abuse from other sources, and much more. They were in a painful or lonely parts of their lives and then Plasma rises like a selfless and heroic ideal, accepting the loss of Pokemon because the kindness was perceived as greater. Once we were hooked by that, we were hit by an indoctrination program that Ghetsis had perfected. We were given a strict and rigid life to conform to, so we did."

"Why would you let someone else control your life?" Rosa asked. N noticed that the question made the one boy he didn't know the name of uncomfortable.

"It does look crazy from the outside," he said. "But it can be a great feeling of security to those who need it. You don't have to worry about your basic needs, or what to look like, or what to say, or even what to think. Everything is laid out and planned for you, and everyone around you will accept you immediately. You just have to do and believe in what you're told. That sense of belonging is addicting and it's hard to come out of it. Even when I got a wake-up call, it took me months to really embrace it. And it's easy to rationalize away things that you would have refused to do before. You wouldn't want to let down your friends, right? You can trust them. But there are some people like Ghetsis who take advantage of the normal desires to belong and feel secure."

"Then you're here helping each other adjust to life without that indoctrination plan," the other boy said.

Rood nodded. "That's exactly it. When things collapsed, Hilda came and found me. I agreed to turn myself in to the police. Once they had me, I began making a case for the others to be assisted rather than punished. Thankfully I was able to convince several judges of this, as well as some of my fellow sages who agreed to take the blame for the innocents who were taken in by Ghetsis' scheme. I've been restricted to this site as part of my sentence, and I don't get paid for the work I do helping others in this program. But we're starting to see success out of this; a good number have managed to rebuild their lives and become better citizens throughout Unova."

That was a lot more than N had been able to pick up from his eavesdropping today. It was reassuring to know, even if it hurt to remember those days. And, many of those following him were just as hurt by all this? But they had cared about Pokemon in the first place. They were working towards getting a better life; he really needed to be doing the same.

Rood continued to talk with the three teens, but N decided to slip out of the room with his group then. Entering the door nearby, he came to a hall with several smaller rooms in it. In front of one, there was a Golett keeping watch. That had to be the one. "Golett," he called softly as they got close.

With the lines in his clay skin glowing brighter, the Golett came alert. "Who comes by? Do not disturb us."

They came to a point where the Golett was within Zane's invisibility shield. "I'm N; I was hoping to talk to Nate." He could see in the doorway now. Nate was sitting up on a bed, his back to the doorway. An Emboar stood at the head of the bed, while an Eevee and a Petlil sat on the bed as well. Rune perched on a shelf, but he noticed N there. Or Zane's power, or even Zekrom.

"I heard your name before," the Golett said. "He is reluctant to speak with you. His mind is unclear; please leave him be."

"Who are you talking to?" the Emboar asked, glancing over but not seeing them yet.

"I'd like to talk with him, but if he isn't ready yet..." but Nate didn't understand Pokemon like he did. Was there a way he could let him know he was there without causing problems?

"N?" Nate asked unexpectedly, looking up but not at the door. "You... you're here, aren't you?"

"His memory viewing is going wild from the presence of Rood and you," Rune noted. "You may as well come in. But, be careful and don't blame him for what he does in a panic."

"We don't want to make it worse," the Emboar said, although she seemed uncertain.

N gave a signal to Zane to drop the shielding. "Yes, I am," he said.

"Where did those people come from?" the Petlil asked. "They weren't there before, at least I don't think..."

"Shh, if you make too much noise, you'll hurt him," the Eevee said in a timid overly cautious tone.

It took a few moments for Nate to think about it, during which he grabbed a pillow and hugged it. "Um... come in if you're still there, but if my Pokemon ask you to leave, please do."

"Be good to him," the Golett said, stepping aside so they could enter.

Zekrom stayed near the door, still just observing. Zane, being more alert, put the invisibility shield back over himself to sit in the hall and watch for people with the Golett. Since those two had things covered, N walked over to the bed and sat in front of Nate. His brown eyes were twitching often and his face seemed very familiar. But N couldn't put his finger on who Nate looked like, or what wasn't 'right' about him.

"I'm sorry if I'm not helping with this visit," N said, not sure how he should start this.

"It's okay, I've been trying to help you," Nate said, but then closed his eyes. "No wait, I'm not home. This isn't the same." He looked at N again. "What are you doing in this world? No, is it you or the other you?"

Remembering what Rune had told him, N took one of Nate's hands off the pillow and held it in both of his, between their faces. "I'm not the N you know. See?"

"Your hands are normal," Nate said, nodding

"I'll leave them where you can see them," N said, letting him go and putting his hands in his lap. "We've hit a dead end in our search for Hilda and Kyurem. Hilbert's trying something else, but I decided that I wanted to check on the people who followed me. I've worried about them while I was away. But, I don't really feel ready to actually meet with them yet, so I had my Zoroark friend hide us." He bit his lip, wondering again who Nate really was. He hadn't even thought about what he'd said until after he'd said it. For some reason, he seemed like someone he could trust.

"They seem to be doing all right, from what I know," he said, putting the pillow aside. "Some of them have shops they run and I would have thought them normal if I didn't see bits of their memory..." Then he brightened. "Oh yeah, we got a new lead just today."

"Really? What?" N felt a little more hope, although a pessimistic thought reminded him that it might be another bad lead.

"She wanted to check out a haunted house in a place called Lentimas. It's close to White Forest, but we're going to have a hard time getting there. We were wondering if your group could help us get there, since it might take my power to find anything." He tapped his head.

"We might be able to," N said. There might be a problem if Zekrom and Reshiram weren't up to it. Normally he'd just ask if they didn't mind giving a ride to someone else, expecting agreement if it was reasonable. But this time, he wasn't sure if she'd say yes or no. "Zekrom? What do you think of helping Nate and his friends to Lentimas?"

"I didn't feel him there," she said. "It wouldn't hurt to look again with others."

"Thank you," Nate said.

"Then what were you doing here?" N asked.

"Looking for more information on that, and trying to get my friends to understand where I came from," he said, still looking at Zekrom with an expression of concern. "Sort of. I mostly wanted Hugh to think more carefully about what he's doing and who he might hurt. He's actually reasonable on most things, but this is personal to him."

"Rood should be able to convince him if he listens. I still believe those who followed me are good, at least the ones who listened and accepted the end of Team Plasma. But then there's these people trying to remake Plasma as something truly bad. Ghetsis has to be responsible. I should stop him, but every time I start trying to plan for that, I just..." he clenched his fist, "freeze up, I can't imagine doing it. Even for Hilda... I'm horrible."

"No you're not," Nate said quickly. After a moment of quiet, he added, "At least, if you are like the friend I know. You're already better just by being rational."

That was oddly reassuring. "I really wonder who you are. I mean, I don't talk freely like this to just any human. Pokemon, sure, and a few people I care about. But you, I feel like I should know you."

"Do you recognize me or someone like me from Team Plasma?" he asked. His eyes were no longer twitching as badly, so it seemed his memory powers had slowed down their assault.

He shook his head. "I don't remember many in the team who were younger than I was. You would have been unusual. But, if you're not feeling well, I don't want to keep you. Maybe we can get together somewhere another day. There's a coffeehouse here that was pretty good."

"Coffee?" Nate asked, absentmindedly. He snapped his fingers. "The... The Toffee N Coffee?"

"That sounds right."

"And you met me there when... wait!" He flipped open his Xtransciever and held his fingers over the keypad. N wondered what he was up to, but he waited until Nate started pushing buttons. "Lunar thunder."

"Excuse me?" Zekrom asked, sounding like she hadn't been paying a lot of attention until that phrase came up.

"It's one of my passwords, to these journal entries that I locked and lost the passwords for," Nate explained, looking over the screen. "The other one I know is 'solar flare', so I should have thought of 'lunar thunder' after. The name of that place, you, I mean, my friend brought me there when he said he was firing me, and I started writing in my journal after he left. That got several. Oh, and finally that one I was supposed to read first in case of memory wiping. That was what I was working on then."

"You planned for memory wiping?" N asked. It seemed like a horrible thing to prepare for.

When Nate didn't immediately reply, his Emboar said, "Yes, in his old world, somebody kept inflicting forgetfulness on him. That's why his mind's scrambled now, although he keeps his thoughts together more often than not in recent months."

"I knew it was bad, but," Nate paused, looking at the screen.

"What is it?" N asked.

Nate looked over at him. "Are you sure you want to hear it? It's about the N from my world mostly."

"He tried to kill me once, so he's not like me now. Go ahead."

"Okay..." he started reading.

…

'Do not anger Lord N or make him upset. When he loses control of his emotions, he loses control of his power. This will kill most beings near him.'

'By decree from Lord N, no one should die. No one can die, grow old, or be born. Anyone who was old grew younger or died. Anyone who was less than a teenager grew up or died. Only by his power can anyone die.'

'A kiss is fatal. Anyone who shares a passionate kiss with another will be killed out of mercy while they are happy. Happiness is fleeting and the death stops that from ending. Other happiness may be fatal, but a kiss is a definite end.'

'It was decreed that Pokemon and humans should live separately by Team Plasma. When Lord N killed Ghetsis, there was some time where this remained but then Lord N changed his mind. But the presence of Pokemon can trigger memories in Lord N that upset him.'

'If something angers or upsets Lord N, he easily lashes out and his powers kill that person, whether human or Pokemon, whether he means to or not. Then he gets upset that someone died and his powers strike out at anyone in range. This will continue until his mind shuts down out of emotional exhaustion and his memory resets. Such storms can last for days.'

'Lord N doesn't like seeing other people upset or angry, so he has decreed that every being will have regular memory wipes to get rid of the bad memories that trouble them. It is uncertain how well the wipes discriminate between bad and good.'

'At one time, Lord N left our world, returning with his powers weakened so that he could learn control over them. But it seems that he gained the power, or a copy of it, that was used to lock off his powers. He managed to unlock his powers again before he learned to control them, at Ghetsis' suggestion, so he sought out the legendary Pokemon that remained to teach him. Those Pokemon all fell to him and Lord N gained the power to control every aspect of the world. But his internal conflict and instability became reflected in our world and everything began to crumble.

'This process was only accelerated when Ghetsis publicly stated that he controlled the world, because he controlled N. N went berserk, killing him and many others violently. When he calmed down and realized what he had done, he fell into a deep depression. I was working for Team Plasma at this time and sometimes I get flashbacks of that period. This means that the mind wipes are not total.

'I am able to reach him at times, to converse with him somewhat normally. He can be aware of what he does to the world, so he tries to do what he could to fix things. Unfortunately, his first idea of fixing things was to find the uncorrupted places in the world and pull them together into one mass, letting the rest fall into the void. Then he added his decrees, which became as certain as scientific laws once he decided on them.

'The abyss, the void that lies outside of the remaining world, is extremely dangerous. Yet people get lured into it and don't seem to notice as their entire being is torn to shreds. Don't look at it.

'People grew upset and tried to fight N, not realizing the amount of power he held. Without anyone being born, the population rapidly deflated. Sometimes he could think clearly, and in one of those times, he said that he was firing me for my own safety. I tried to stay close, but it became clear that N could not always recognize who was speaking to him; he's dangerous even to those he trusted. He remains in a miserable depression that clouds his mind the majority of the time; his powers make his nightmares manifest in the world, to torment the few of us remaining. There were others suffering, so I left to do what I could.

'There are a few people who he seems to never forget: Ghetsis, Rood, Giallo, Zinzolin, Gorm, Ryuko, Bronius, Hilbert, Hilda, Darcy, Pricilla, Rune, Zane, Lucky, Zekrom, Reshiram, Kyurem.'

'There is a reason that I must stay alive. Sometimes I even remember it.'

…

Even knowing that it wasn't himself being talked about, N shuddered at some points. That could have happened if he'd won? At least one possibility of that. Feeling like he should think about it more later on, N said, "Nothing about your name there. But I think I might know a way to figure it out, if you don't mind taking a risk of causing yourself pain." He didn't like suggesting it, but his real name could be a vital key to sorting things out for him.

"I..." Nate grimaced and pulled the pillow back. "I'm not sure I could handle much more today. The medicine isn't really helping either."

N got up off the bed. "Sorry... oh wait, let me try something." After giving a glance to the Pokemon close to them, he leaned closer to Nate and softly hummed the tune for Sing. Normally it didn't work well on humans; it worked better on Pokemon and gijinkas like himself. But N had been working on this and after a few moments, he had Nate asleep. Hopefully that would give him some respite from the pain.

"Is he gonna be all right?" the Petlil asked.

"He's come out of this before, but it takes some time for him to recover," the Eevee said. "We'll be good Pokemon and stay with him. I'll try not to get distracted either."

N petted the Eevee. "He'll like that. Take good care of him."

She wagged her tail "We'll be good because he's good to us."

"Would you give this to him?" Zekrom asked, passing a piece of paper to the Golett. "I know what his third password might be, if there's still some locked pieces in there."

"Will do," the Golett said, keeping it within a closed fist.

Leaving Nate with his Pokemon friends, N, Zekrom, and Zane left the room to head back out. He thought of finding another door out, but stepped into the main room to see how things were going. Hugh... that was the black-haired boy, he remembered. Hugh was standing up now, next to Rood who was checking something on his Xtransciever. "I don't know if you would have her," Hugh said. "She was never in the reclamation lists."

"It seems we don't," Rood said. "There's a few Purrloins and Liepards here, but none with that kind of collar. I'm sorry."

"Is that the records of all the Pokemon in Team Plasma?" Rosa asked, petting Felix who was sitting on the couch between her and the other boy.

Rood shook his head. "No. She may be with some of those who clung to Plasma; I hope you can find her."

"Me too," Hugh said, sounding disappointed. "Well... you guys here don't seem like trouble. But that's exactly how you appeared to everyone at first back then too. I'll leave you alone for now, and if you do start causing trouble, I won't hesitate to stop you. Rosa, you guys be careful with that investigation of yours." He then headed out the door.

"I think you guys are good now," Rosa said. "I wouldn't mind helping you out either."

Rood smiled at that. "Thanks for the offer. We're still keeping low and quiet. Maybe in a few years, people won't be immediately hostile at the name of Plasma and listen to us like you. Of course, that depends on what this new group is up to."

"We are looking for Hilda, actually," the other boy said, to Rood's interest. "That's another reason we came here. I don't quite get it myself, but somehow this Pokemon here knows something about a hunted house in Lentimas that she wanted to visit, maybe around the time she disappeared."

Felix cocked his head. "I do? I haven't been to a haunted house."

Rood seemed puzzled too. "I'm not sure how Felix would know that. But that does remind me of something. A few of the people here were sent on an investigation of that house while we were in Team Plasma. If I remember right, she did talk with them about it at some point... early June that year that she disappeared. That was the last time I saw her."

"Could we ask them about the house? We don't want to go in there not knowing what's there."

Sitting back in the couch, Rood said, "I don't think they're here today; two of them help run the bookshop at Join Avenue, while the other went to our other camp. But I know the story from them."

* * *

There was once a man who spent all of his life seeking wealth and power. Born into poverty, he worked ruthlessly to attain that which he didn't have. Eventually he became the wealthiest man in Unova, with a beautiful wife and two kids. He built a house beside Twist Mountain for a place to relax and enjoy the rewards of his labor.

But it wasn't enough for him. After spending every waking minute of his life finding ways to make money, no matter what it took or who it hurt, he couldn't stop. But money increasingly meant nothing to him. He had more than he knew what to do with. To find something to satisfy himself with, he traveled around the world, seeking for more ways to gain power. And through this search, he managed to capture one of the legendary Pokemon.

That satisfied him for a little while, pleased him in having such a powerful force held captive to his whim. He kept the legend in the attic of his home near Twist Mountain, with no intent on actually using its power. He was satisfied just to have the Pokeball there, to be potentially used. But after a while, the novelty wore off and he wanted to have a second legend under his control. He researched many throughout the world before deciding on one and going to hunt for it. And he was successful yet again.

However, the second legendary was not willing to stay quietly like the other. It convinced its peer to work with it to escape. They broke free of their Pokeballs, cursing the house and all who lived in it. With that, the man's perfect life of wealth and power unraveled quickly. His family suffered from nightmares and illnesses, all dying within a month of each other. His investments turned bad and lawyers came to hold him accountable for his methods. In a fit of anger, he tried to blow his house up only to injure himself gravely with the explosives. He eventually died in prison.

But the curse remained on the house, bringing ill fortune to those who own it and not letting the spirits of those who died within it rest.


	31. Spaghetti Western Pokemon Showdown

June 26

Driftveil

The late morning quiet of the bay was broken by screams from a small ferry, followed by a small splash. Curtis turned his eyes to them, but he remained on the shore, sitting with his back resting on his Snorlax. While there was some panic on the boat, it seemed like no one had fallen off. He chuckled. A few minutes later, something tugged at his line. From the feel of it, the fish wasn't catching on the hook as normal. He went ahead and reeled it in, spotting a triangular form on the line well ahead of the hook. Curtis then leaned over and pulled Spectra's keystone out of the water. As he finished reeling in the line, she stamped around to shake water off, then emerged from the stone.

"Having fun out there?" he asked her.

"Eeehehehehehehehe!" Her violet spirit grinned wide. It was good to see her spirited like this again, even if she was scaring people. At least she hadn't hurt anyone yet.

"I hope Lorax likes this as much as you do, but it's hard to tell," he said, glancing at the Snorlax. He was still asleep. After looking at the empty hook a moment, he began taking it off to return to his tackle box. "Nothing biting this morning. But I'm liking this too. Got plans, but no schedule. Nobody's pushing piddly jobs on me or calling me at odd hours. I've talked more with my real friends in the past couple of days face to face than I've talked with some of the others over the phone and at parties. I just said, 'I'll be out fishing', and they wished me good luck and said they'd come get me if we were setting out. This is the best." With his things put away and the tackle box shut, he relaxed back against Lorax. "Maybe I'll just rest for a bit."

Spectra hopped over next to him. When he looked at her, she grinned, then made a strange face, with x eyes and the image of a tongue hanging out her mouth. Next, she hopped around to make an exaggerated crying face, then hopped back to make a toothy scaring face. "Rrrraaaaaaaah!" She then hopped back to be scared and wailing. Finally, she burst into giggles.

"What was that about?" Curtis asked. Probably one of her pranks. She would probably see this whole running away as a prank on his part. Thinking about that, he flipped open his Xtransceiver. "I should see how the studio reacted to this," he said aloud, going to his fansite.

It seemed they had taken down his parting statement. Instead, there was a post from his manager on the front page. 'We regret to inform you that it does appear to be true that Christoph has unexpectedly gone absent without prior notice. However, please refrain from baseless speculation and conspiracy theories as to why he is gone. This event is currently under investigation and if it is deemed necessary, we will release facts that are uncovered.' PR talk for 'yes he's gone, now shut up about it' was his interpretation of it.

And it seemed his fans were doing a lot of talking. Although his announcement was gone, a number of people had taken screenshots and were putting up pictures for those who missed it. There were also links to other boards that were discussing his going missing, as the moderators tried to control what was going on. It was quite a mess: some claimed this was a publicity stunt, others thought he'd been kidnapped, a few thought that he might be dead for one reason or another. Other topics included speculation about his claim about the songs being bad, why he might have run off, why ads for other singers were prominent on his fansite, and ideas for how fans might convince the studio to listen to him so that he came back. They cared more about Christoph than Curtis, but they still cared about him.

"I wonder how some of these people came to the conclusion that I might be dead," he asked. Spectra giggled at that. "Maybe I should post something so they at least calm down about that." The Spiritomb made a sad face at that, so he raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Deciding it was better responded to, he checked over the topics and decided on one that was being conducted in a reasonable manner. He logged in and started writing. 'Christoph- Hey everybody; thanks for your concern. I'm not in trouble or dead or anything like that. Well, I might be in trouble with the studio, but I couldn't care less about them. I left because I wanted to. Honestly, this past year has been really awful for me and when I made that announcement, I had just gotten fed up with everything. It could have taken a dark turn for me, but I found a way out. I'll be back when I'm ready. If you happen to see me before then, well, just pretend you didn't, haha.'

As he was logging out, he heard Rosa calling for him. "Hey, we're going to be heading out!"

"All right!" he said, grabbing his things and getting up. Lorax still didn't want to wake up, so he recalled him, then picked up Spectra's rock to carry her. At the top of the stairs leading to the shore, Nate was with her; Hugh had left yesterday on his self-assigned mission. "You feeling up to this?" Curtis asked Nate.

He shrugged. "Not particularly, but it's going to affect me no matter when I go. I'd rather get it over with and see if we can help Hilda sooner."

"I think we'll be okay, even if it is a haunted old house," Rosa said. "I mean, we've got Medusa, and Spectra here, and Signet, all Ghosts. And Hilbert had that Chandelure, so they can all tell the Ghosts to leave us be."

"Spectra would be best at that," Nate said.

While the Spiritomb giggled, Curtis said, "I haven't fought with her much. But she can be a heap of trouble when she wants to be, so maybe she can out-trouble all of them."

Somehow, Nate had spoken with N yesterday, so both him and Hilbert were going to Lentimas with them. They met up on the smaller bridge, where both of the dragons were in their human forms. This brought less attention, which may have been good as N seemed nervous there. As there weren't many people around with light green hair, he kept between the others in his group and the trees, watching other people in case they noticed him.

"So who's your new friend?" Hilbert asked after being introduced.

Meanwhile, Spectra saw fit to hop out of Curtis' arm and chat with N. He quietly replied, "I do," before listening further.

Rosa said, "This is Curtis. He's traveling with us now. Doesn't need a reason, right?"

"We're friends, that's why," Nate said.

"That's good enough," Hilbert said, shaking Curtis' hand. "Well you've got Rune, Nate, and my Braviary Regal can fly me over. Reshiram could take Rosa and Curtis, then. Is that all right?"

"That's fine," Reshiram said, sounding rather subdued. It struck Curtis as odd, since he had expected this dragon to be more energetic and assertive, on the same level as Rosa even.

"No, most humans would not appreciate that," N said to Spectra's giggles. "I'm not telling."

"Not telling what?" Rosa asked.

"Just not telling," N said, shaking his head. "It's normal for her, but... are we heading out?"

"If we've got nothing else to take care of," Nate said. No one responded, so they headed down to the waterside so Reshiram and Zekrom could transform out of the way. Curtis thought it would be gentlemanly to help Rosa climb onto Reshiram's back, but she got on herself. Once he got on and N was on Zekrom, the two dragons took off across the bay. Nate and Hilbert's birds vanished in a blur of light, taking those two with them. Then they headed quickly towards the center of Unova.

"This is fun!" Rosa said before long, glancing back at Curtis. "I can't wait until I can get to fly with Grim."

"I had a Pidgeot with Fly at one point," he said. "Traded her for Spectra's keystone. It's real handy, although sometimes I think there could be some travel music."

"Oh yeah? Like what?" The trees of the White Forest Nature Preserve began to blur green beneath them.

"Well..." one popped into his mind. Nate had helped with translating yesterday evening, so he started singing. He only got a few lines in before coughing. "Ack, not easy to be singing when riding a fast flying dragon." Rosa giggled.

"Where did you learn that song?" Reshiram asked, managing to make his voice sound like it was right next to them.

"Nate has an old hymnal that he bought somewhere recently," Curtis explained. "He knows the language somehow; has a whole translation document in his journal."

"He does?" Rosa asked.

He nodded, only thinking after the thought that she was ahead of him and might not see. "He solved the remaining two passwords yesterday. Still doesn't give us a way to translate the old Unova music script, but I think I'm getting the hang of it."

"Some of it was off, but I still recognize it," Reshiram said. "Did he tell you what the song means?"

"It's about wishing a safe journey back home to soldiers in a time of war," Curtis said. "So not quite appropriate for this moment, but I like how the song goes even when it's harder to sing as a language I don't know."

Rosa nodded. "Try again when we're on the ground? Oh, Reshiram, can you read the music?"

"I can." But they were rapidly approaching a lone mountain among the trees. Then Lentimas appeared, a patch of brown and gray between the forest and the mountain. Like the desert around Route 4, this seemed to be an odd spot that received less rain then the surrounding areas. The buildings were of a different design than most areas of Unova; their clay construction matched regions to the southwest better. There wasn't much to the town, most of it a single road with a few buildings beside it.

On the west end of the road, there was a small airport. There was only one plane on the ground, so they landed there. Nate, Hilbert, and their birds appeared as the others dropped down to the ground. "Hey Nate, do you have that hymnal on you?" Curtis asked. "Reshiram was interested in it."

"Oh, yes, I should." He opened up his bag and quickly found the old book. He handed it directly to Reshiram once the dragon was in human form. "You can probably translate it easier than I."

"Right." He looked over the cover, then opened it up. "Hmmm... been a very long time since I've seen one of these. They used to be commonly copied by student scribes."

"Their single note seems to be a half-note in the system I was taught," Curtis said. "Mostly I'm not sure of the range, and a little uncertain about what's the rest note."

Reshiram flipped a few pages, then pointed to one mark. "That's the rest." The rest of the group started moving into the town, so Curtis walked alongside the truth dragon and discussed the hymnal with him for a couple of minutes.

Meanwhile, Nate had stopped in the middle of the street that made up Lentimas. An older couple watching over what might be their grandkids were sitting on a porch nearby; they watched curiously at this unusually large group passed through their town. Nate seemed rather distracted, staring up at the sky. Then he turned back to them. "It was... not here, but something happened... N?"

"What is it?" he asked, taking a few step forwards.

Nate held his hand out. "No, not quite that... over there. Yeah, that's it."

"What, are you going to have a western Pokemon showdown?" Rosa asked in jest. "It's certainly the right kind of setting."

"It would be," Curtis said, noting that himself. He almost recognized this view; had this town been used for a western movie?

"No tumbleweeds," Nate said, oddly. He closed his head. "But that's what happened here. Not quite why the two of them disappeared, but, Hilda and Kyurem were here. And Ghetsis."

…

It was like an old Western Pokemon showdown in the streets of Letimas. The noon sun gave a yellow haze to the street. Whatever the locals were doing, the main street was occupied by only a few: one man wearing a black cloak and monocle, one young woman dressed in a casual modern style, one man wearing an icy white mask covering the upper half of his face, and a Serperior wearing a dusty fedora. A few minutes ago, the battle had been fierce and powerful. The dust was settling now, with the results quite clear. All they needed now was a tumbleweed rolling between them. Unfortunately, the plants necessary didn't seem to grow here.

"You've gotten rusty, old fool," Hilda said, putting her hands on her hips and smirking at him.

Ghetsis half-sneered, his green hair slipping into his face. His right eye kept twitching, but otherwise didn't move much. "I don't believe this... what are you up to you, you witch? You got lucky last time and there's no way you should win now."

"Still making fun of us?" Fedora growled, flipping his tail.

She rolled her eyes. "You were the one cheating last time, I'm sure. I got better, clearly. And you've hit a glass ceiling because you're freaking insane. You agreed to the terms, so give up."

"I do not give up!" he yelled, flinging his hand out. Something sparkled through the air, flying out of his hand and skipping off the dusty road between some buildings. "When you think you have won, my plans will still continue. I will have my revenge, no matter what it takes!" He brought his right hand back under his cloak, apparently trying to do something.

Another person appeared in the street, taking hold of the cloaked man. This man had ghostly white hair and strange red eyes that were somehow reminiscent of bugs. "Master Ghetsis," he said in an emotionless voice. He then vanished, taking the other with him.

"Always with the running," Hilda said, shaking her head. "I wonder what he was doing here... hmm? Kyurem?"

He was rubbing his cheek at the bottom of his mask, like something was bothering him about it. With attention being called to him, he put his hand down. "Good work; you didn't even need to call on me."

"It's like I told him. But what's up with you? You've been acting odd lately."

He started to respond, but then stopped himself, looking down at the ground. "I... I should call my siblings back home. I wanted to leave them be until N and Hilbert were ready to come back. But this is more, complicated than I thought. I'm not sure how long I can keep nue... this up."

Worried, she stepped closer to him. "What, you can't handle being the authority around here? Or are you sick?" Him being sick might explain some of this, but the Pokecenters hadn't said anything to her.

"He's certainly been moody enough to be sick," Fedora said.

He walked off towards the buildings. "He lost something; might still be there."

Hilda thought for a moment about being stubborn with him keeping something secret from her. It was something she'd tease him about early in their journey, but now when he was mostly open with her, it felt odd for him to get secretive again. Then again, Reshiram and Zekrom could get him to talk better. She followed him over to the small alleyway where she noticed something shining in the brown dirt.

After examining it cautiously, Kyurem picked up the bracelet. It had a plain band, but set into it were three orbs the size of large marbles: one pink, one blue, one a silvery-gray. "It's the sacred artifacts of the guardians of Sinnoh," he said. "I remember hearing that they had lost them. We'd best get these orbs back to them quickly. If they knew how to tap into the power or these artifacts, they could travel wherever, whenever..." He snapped his fingers. "Right, this is it. Ghetsis at least knew how to partly use Palkia's orb, since he could teleport himself and others with it."

"Are we really going to bring those guardians here?" the Serperior asked. "Because that will really draw attention."

Hilda playfully swatted at Fedora. "Since when are you worried about attention? Although calling the Master of Space or Time in the middle of the street doesn't seem like the best way to impress the locals."

"We should be able to call on them outside of town," Kyurem said, handing the bracelet over to her. "Since that's where we're headed anyhow, let's go."

"Sounds like a plan to me," she said, giving the bracelet a look over. "But once I get you all healed up; his Pokemon still fight like berserkers."

…

After hearing Nate explain what had happened here two years ago, Hilbert said, "Well that could explain how she ended up in your world. The Lustrous Orb, the Adamant Orb... use them wrong and you could end up in a different timeline, or even a wholly different world."

"Kyurem would have known how to use such artifacts safely," Zekrom said. "And more importantly, he would have know it was safest to simply get them back to their proper owners."

"That's what they planned on, but failed to somehow," Nate said. "It must have been close to when they disappeared... but, Hilbert, didn't your research show that Hilda last checked into a Pokecenter in White Forest?"

He nodded. "Yes, on the sixth. Maybe we should check it out; they might know something."

Reshiram nodded, handing the hymnal to Curtis. Curtis considered putting up in his bag, but then Zekrom and N came over to him while the others checked out the center. "Excuse me," Zekrom said, "but that hymnal..."

He explained about the couple of translated songs that he and Nate had worked on. "We haven't had long to work with it, but these old songs just fascinated me."

"These were songs that might have been sung to you and your brothers?" N asked.

Zekrom nodded. "Reshiram and I, not so much for Kyurem. I was wondering what songs are in it."

"I really only recognized one, but I haven't looked through it too closely," Curtis said, passing it to her. "Is there any in there you like?"

"Probably," she said, checking the front page. Then, with some familiarity, she turned to the last third of the book and looked for one.

"Can you sing them well?" N asked.

He smiled. "I'm trying. Singing is... well, it's a huge part of my life, so to see this different style of song writing in an old language, it's like a puzzle to figure out. Although, showing it to Reshiram made it a lot easier to get back to solving."

"Oh, this copy does have it," Zekrom said, seeming like she was reminiscing about something. "This... it's probably the oldest song in the book. It was ancient when this copy was most likely made."

"Really?" Curtis said. Ancient when this book was new... what would it sound like? What was its purpose? He went over and looked at the written melody. "Wow, that... that looks like a challenge to sing even if I knew the language. It'd definitely take practice."

She flipped through the upper corners of the book. "Technically, while it can be sung, you wouldn't be able to back in the day. This whole section here," she held onto a portion of the pages, "are songs that only priests and certain others could sing. They were powerful meaningful songs within the early cultures. Like this one, it was once used to summon us to Dragonspiral Tower back when we were one, not three. Singing it freely without that purpose in mind could get you imprisoned."

"Seriously? That's harsh." Thankfully, freedom of speech and song was standard through much of the world.

"I thought it was a little sad," Zekrom said. "It's a nice song, but I understand why it would be sung rarely. Back then, we weren't very..." she ran her fingers through her hair, "we weren't like we are now. Didn't have many emotions, very rigid personality. We wouldn't take the time to consider the many reasons why someone might do something wrong, just what was immediately there as the reason. But humans are more complex, and so are we now. If we responded to this song sung for no real reason, we would punish the singer for it."

"You wouldn't now, though, right?" N asked.

"Right," she said, passing the hymnal back to Curtis. "It'd be nice to hear that one again, even if it doesn't have the same meaning."

"I can certainly give it a try," he said, looking back over the notes. The tempo wasn't one he was used to and the variety of notes to sing all close together... this was a demanding song. But that thought came back, that it hadn't been sung in centuries and would be amazing to bring back into the world. With him being free from the restrictions of the studio, he had the time needed to work it out. "Does this sound about right?" He hummed a string of notes to start with.

* * *

Once the Pokecenter nurse knew that he was indeed Reshiram, she was willing to tell them that the Lentimas station would have just opened in early June of two years ago, meaning their records of those days might not be in the network records. She did remember Hilda coming in because of the battle with Ghetsis, and one other thing. Hilda had asked her to run a deep scan on Kyurem because she was worried about him. Because of that, they were able to find a record that it had been run shortly after noon on the seventh of June. That made it the last record of Hilda and Kyurem, not the one in White Forest. The nurse directed them to the path that would take them to the haunted house and they headed out to follow it.

Reversal Mountain was wider than it was tall, but it did bear a strong aura from being the dwelling place of a legendary Pokemon. A great many large rocks were strewn about the clay-heavy dirt. This along with the mountain's rain shadow and the heat made it harder for plants to grow. Rough grass brushed against their feet and thorny bushes blocked off some paths. Although overgrown, there were signs that this had once been a road: concrete rubble among the rocks, smoothed walls on larger rocks, lack of larger plants like trees.

While they were walking, Reshiram felt his sister sending telepathic messages to him. 'What did the scan say?'

Reshiram checked the group traveling with them; they were conversing with each other, not yet involving them directly. 'It said he had a high level of stress, but otherwise wasn't ill.'

'If that's so, then him acting oddly and wanting us to come back might have more to do with how he felt about Hilda.'

He nodded a little. 'According to Nate's vision, he first said that he didn't mind if she chose to be with someone else, but that may have changed. That would conflict with his purpose and power, which would cause him to act as if ill. Technology can do a lot, but I don't think they can pick that up.'

'That's not going to be good for N,' Zekrom said, starting to get fidgety with her hair again. She was letting it grow out for some reason, making it a bit longer each time she transformed. 'But I don't want to see Kyurem heartbroken either. That is, if he isn't already. He might not be with Hilda.'

'If it comes down to it, let me handle our brother. You make sure N stays well.'

'That's the sensible plan. I doubt either one of them will want to be sensible in the moment. Although, I would rather see it happen then not.' Because while this love drama was going to end up with someone hurt, it would mean that both Hilda and Kyurem were back and safe.

Eventually, a rusty iron fence appeared in the brambles. Beyond it, there was a house in the same style as those back in Lentimas, but far larger. There was a wide open space in front of it, as if someone had the luxury to have a car to drive out here. Many of the windows were broken, but the battered door was still in place. It was dark inside, not just in the absence of light but also in the feeling that this place was despised.

"Why does this place seem so creepy?" Rosa asked clasping one of the iron bars while Nate walked towards the center of the 'driveway'.

"It's rundown and abandoned, but not that creepy," Curtis said.

"You probably can't feel it," N said, sounding nervous. "But that place... it's like I hear screams of fear and rage, also a bit of malicious delight. The last is sort of like how Ghost Pokemon sound when they scare someone, but more malicious than those I've met."

"It still bears a curse," Zekrom said. "We should be able to counter it, but to break it will take effort. But, I don't feel anything like Kyurem's power inside."

"They didn't... didn't get inside," Nate said, sounding strained. Reshiram looked at him and noticed that whatever memory he'd stumbled on this time was more powerful than the one of Hilda and Ghetsis battling.

"Should you be staying here?" Rosa asked.

"Hol-hold on, it should be..." he took a few steps and dropped to his hands and knees, brushing aside dirt.

"The Sinnoh artifacts?" Hilbert asked, although Reshiram felt sure it wasn't that. He would have felt the orbs being nearby.

"No," Nate said, bringing something dirty but blueish-white out of the ground. Seeing it made Reshiram feel sick to his stomach, it was such a dreadful sign. Zekrom cried out and went over to take it from Nate; he followed her over.

"Isn't that the mask he was always wearing?" N asked, worried. "I thought that was part of how he saw himself. How could he lose that?"

"Something bad happened, enough to disrupt the identity he thought he had," Nate said.

…

Kyurem rubbed his mask again, then stopped himself. Why was it feeling loose? He had made it exactly to fit him, so it shouldn't be irritating him like this. But messing with it like this would only loosen it further. Maybe he needed to go back to the crater for a while, where it would be cool. It shouldn't be a problem, though.

Ahead of him, Hilda was walking with her five other Pokemon, messing with the old iron fence there. "And there it is. The gate's blown away."

"That place is most definitely cursed," Frank the Gothitelle said. "But it doesn't feel like the doing of a Ghost Pokemon."

"You can hold back this curse, right?" Hilda asked, looking back at him.

Whoever laid that curse had been furious. Yet, it was old. "Sure enough," Kyurem said. But of more importance, this opening was just large enough to call Dialga or Palkia into. Maybe not Giratina, it depended on how he was formed at the moment. He headed out towards the middle of it. "Before we get into that, we should return that treasure."

"Surrrr..." Hilda gasped as if she was suddenly having trouble breathing.

Kyurem turned around quickly, but then the world dissolved around him and he was returned to his Pokeball for some reason. For him, it appeared like the cave he usually hibernated in, full of icy mist. Frantic, he nearly missed the sound of cracking ice, would have missed it if it wasn't right in front of his face. But that wasn't important. What happened to Hilda? He tried to escape the virtual world, but his way was blocked electronically. That shouldn't be happening; he should have better chances of getting out than other Pokemon.

As he tried to figure that out, he was called back out to the lot in front of the cursed Lentimas house, facing Hilda. And the member of the Shadow Triad behind her back that had a long knife on her neck. The two women were standing nearby, one with his Pokeball in her hand. "You're the one we want," she said.

"Give yourself up and we'll let her go," the other woman said.

Hilda seemed to be trying to say something, but was having trouble with the knife where it was. She also looked to a chance to struggle free, but he had her arms pinned quite well. For a moment, Kyurem felt enraged. He clenched his fist, knowing that he could kill them with his ice, and should do so. He was the active guardian in the region; he had to stay free enough to do what was required. And for those who would definitely restrain and use him, he had to fight them with everything he had. It would hurt, but he could even break that Pokeball to make sure they didn't have him.

But what about Hilda? Could he take out that man without the knife cutting into her, or the other two attacking her? And if his spell should hurt her... he shouldn't have doubts like this. His power over ice was absolute and there were other powers he could tap into. But something in his heart seemed to be screaming, he couldn't hurt her! He couldn't let them hurt Hilda. How had he even missed them capturing her? He loosed his fist. He... he couldn't do this. Hilda had to be safe.

At that moment, Kyurem's ice mask snapped in two and fell off his face. His own power lashed out at him, causing him to collapse. He couldn't explain it. What was going so wrong with him? Somehow, they had defeated him without touching him.

There was a buzz from the male Shadow. Kyurem looked up in time to see a dimensional hole rip through the air; the orbs on the bracelet were glowing. After throwing Hilda through that rip, the three of them approached him. He found himself unable to do anything about it, betrayed by his own heart.


	32. Staring into the Abyss

end of days

Hilda found herself on the edge of the world. The surprise of being thrown into goodness knows where, when, and how was not as great as looking over a cliff and seeing a star-studded sky beneath. A red and orange aurora played out there, adding to the eerie and beautiful spectacle. Watching it, she nearly forgot about having almost been killed and Kyurem... what had happened to Kyurem? Was he still in love with her? He had admitted to it months ago, but then never followed up on it. If anything, he'd been trying to force himself to be detached again. But how did that lead to what happened? And how was she going to get back? She couldn't stay here.

Looking at the bracelet in her hands, she recalled that this device should allow one to move through space and time, even entering other worlds by exploring alternate histories. But the last person she knew to be using something like this had very little control over where he landed; he had been phenomenally powerful. She didn't know how it worked and didn't have any special powers, besides being gifted in understanding Pokemon because of Kyurem.

The strange sky sparkled invitingly, distracting her from her thoughts again. It was so close, just past the cracked pavement a foot from where she stood. Even knowing that it probably wasn't a good idea to drop down into what appeared to be sky, it had some kind of allure to it... lure...

"Hey! Get away from the edge or the abyss will tear you apart."

Turning around, she saw the guy who had called out to her. He wore a red visor with a Pokeball symbol on it, as well as a blue tank top and green-tan cargo shorts. His dark brown hair was pulled back in a small spiky ponytail and he seemed to be a couple years younger than her. In his hand, he carried a travel bag and a shopping bag from the supermarket close by. Beyond that store was one of the most bizarre cities she had ever seen. There were giant trees, strangely shaped signs, and buildings from all kinds of eras. It seemed to have less been built and more smushed together from a variety of locations.

Not looking at that weird sky anymore cleared her head. Hilda walked over to him. "Sorry, I just dropped in on accident. Where are we?"

He shrugged. "The last place in the world, as far as I can tell. Are you sure you just dropped in or did your memory reset?"

"I'm pretty sure I just arrived, since my memory's intact. Never seen a place like this."

"New?" He seemed puzzled. "I knew things were unstable. At any rate, you'd better come with me before the figments arrive." He headed further down the street, walking quickly.

Knowing that she'd have to figure this place out before she could leave, she followed him. "Figments? Like of the imagination? This must be a weird place if they can show up."

"They're all his figments, so there's not much we can do."

"That guy in charge, huh?" He nodded, moving past rubble in a familiar way. "Well I'm Hilda, a Pokemon Trainer. Who're you?"

That was enough to make him stop, even in the danger. He turned to her, looking somewhat stunned. "A Pokemon... Trainer?"

"Yeah, I have six... well, five." She pulled one off and released her Gothitelle Frank.

Frank immediately went wide-eyed, shuffling around in his long black dress. "What the... where are we? Oh my head, this place is so messed up." He put a hand to his forehead, cringing.

"Sorry, but we're apparently at the last place on Earth," Hilda said.

The guy watched Frank in interest. "It's real? No, I mean... It's been... a long time, I think, since a Pokemon has been around here." He rubbed his head.

"So who are you?" Hilda asked. "You never answered me."

"Oh right." He paused, tapping his bag. "I, uh... I'm not sure. Memory wipes are built in now. Get enough and it's hard to keep things straight. You can call me Nate; I use that for my video games."

"This is like if the powers of creation got thrown into the hands of a madman," Frank muttered, now with his face in his hands. "I don't hardly sense anyone out there, but there's these weird... not things, I don't know."

"Figments?" Hilda suggested to him. Then there was a high pitched screech from down the street.

Nate tensed, then said, "Let's go!" He ran down the street, followed by Hilda and Frank. What was this place? She wondered about it: that starry abyss, memory wipes, apparently dangerous not-thing figments, damaged skyscrapers. It made her think of a nightmarish Castelia.

About a block down, Nate brought her into an apartment building. The lobby was torn up and messy while the elevator door looked bashed in. He ignored them in favor of taking the stairwell, going up two flights of steps before unlocking a door. This brought them into an apartment which felt a lot calmer than the surrounding city. With no damage or disarray, it was clean and desperate to be cheerful, with a vase of colorful flowers on the kitchen counter and family photographs on the walls. The refrigerator was covered in decorative magnets, including a number of plastic letters arranged in odd words like 'SKYFREEZE'. However, it was much too quiet.

"I'm home," Nate said, glancing around while he held the door open for Frank who had come in last.

"Who do you live with?" she asked, heading towards the kitchen to look around. If she had to guess, she would say that nobody lived here. Someone was certainly cleaning, as there wasn't a speck of dust in sight.

"Nobody." Once he had the door shut, he began closing three locks that it had.

"Then why do you say that?"

He shrugged. "Habit."

"Does anyone else live in this city?" Hilda asked. Now that she thought about it, it was odd that the streets had been totally empty and many of the windows were dark.

Nate shook his head. "You're the first other person I've seen in... a long while, since I've played through five of the really long games. My memory's not reliable. Wait, there's... Lord N, he must be somewhere around, but he avoids me. There might be others with him, but it's dangerous to be near him." He got a notebook computer from his bag and put it on the counter. "Here, this might help. I write stuff in there that's too important to forget, but I don't think I got my name in there in time."

"Are you sure about that?" she asked.

"If I try to explain, I think my memory will cut out again. Go ahead." He began putting away his groceries, but afterwards pulled out a Nintendo DS and began playing a game.

"May I read through your eyes?" Frank asked, coming over by her. "This place is something of a shock, but it'd be good to know more about it."

"Sure thing," Hilda said, sitting on a stool by the counter and opening up Nate's notebook. It was already logged into the journal feature.

* * *

''I don't think I can live this illusion any longer. I don't know if it's me failing to believe in it or if he's slipping up. But, the woman I live with, the one I call my mother... she's not real. She's just another figment, albeit a harmless one. My real mother died many years ago, before this world was ruined.

N had fired me. I was still worried about him, but I was also worried about the other survivors. After finding a church mostly intact, I gathered them all to the area within walking distance and tried to support them through the church. It was difficult as people continued dying or disappearing. Then one day, N appeared in the church. He was unnaturally thin and I suspect only the power he held kept him alive. He apologized and said he wanted to make up for our suffering. Then there was a mind wipe of all of us. When my memory picks back up, he was gone, but there were more people there. Loved ones we thought were missing were suddenly there to support us, including my mother.

For a while, we were happy with that. These new people were odd, happy but child-like in demeanor, full of delusions. We didn't mind until we started asking questions. Things weren't right. Life was an image that appeared whole, but the parts of it didn't quite fit together. Then people began to remember and the new ones were revealed for what they were: illusions called up by N in an attempt to make us happy and safe. Knowing the truth made the illusions increasingly unstable, still smiling but increasingly distracted. They were unable to hold a conversation, only able to respond to what was said in the past ten seconds. Then they dissolved and the person they were meant to support lost their memory. In most cases, this restored the illusion.

But the truth has become harder to ignore. More of my neighbors chose to enter the abyss rather than continuing this. Then I finally succumb to my depression some time ago, maybe months. I chose to willingly believe in my mother's illusion and for a while, it worked. I was about as delusional as she was. It made me happy. But, even I couldn't keep up the lie forever. I believe she's finally gone for good. And so is everyone else, it seems.

When I went to speak with N, he wouldn't respond.'

* * *

For all the depressing and complicated stuff kept in his journal, Nate didn't seem sad. He was definitely affected, absorbed in his games to the point where sometimes he was surprised to see her there. At other times, he seemed numb and lifeless. But he was a good guy and something kept him going. Partway through reading his things, Hilda got to worrying about Kyurem and getting back to her world again. And not just him. What would happen to her parents, the N from her world, Bianca and Cheren, Hilbert... what would happen to all of them when they noticed she wasn't around? She got upset and Nate calmly talked her out of it. He told her to have hope, and coming from a guy whose world had been ruined by a more or less insane ill-prepared god, that meant a lot. So she started making plans instead.

She let her Pokemon roam around Nate's apartment. Even in this safe place, the very nature of this world troubled them. Mimi made quick friends with Nate and stayed near him nearly as much as she did with Hilda. In the meantime, Frank and Tarzan had found an odd video game in Nate's collection. With the odd smudged name of 'Pokemon: ClicheStorm 2', they said it bore a dimensional warping that could open a pathway to their world. "Where did you get this one?" she asked Nate.

As expected, he shrugged. "I got them here and there, some in old abandoned stores, some from other people..." Then he seemed to recall something. "But that white one... there was an odd woman who visited the church, she had a large book with her. She gave me at least one game that had an oddly colored cartridge. Maybe it's that one."

It might be possible to use the game with the orb bracelet she had to return home. However, other plans came together in her mind. Frank didn't think that this world could hold together as it was for very long and Hilda believed that. Knowing that, it seemed wrong to leave Nate here. Him and the other N. Hilda talked Nate into taking her to visit the church and seeing that place made her plan seem more feasible. It was a risk, and she did feel some fear about her escape plans not working out. But the potential results seemed worth the risk.

Now she just had to convince Nate to leave this world.

* * *

"What're you playing?" Hilda asked, coming into the living room area.

"Huh?" Nate looked up at her as if he'd forgotten about her, but he got it a second later. "Oh, this. It's part of a series of Pokemon RPGs I found in one of the buildings." He turned his attention back to it. "It's weird, cause I think I would have called them lame before, as they're basically sims of a Pokemon Trainer going through the League. But now that that's all gone, the games are pretty good. I know I'm just falling into escapism, but really, what else is there to do at this point? I don't remember enough to do something half the time, though I can keep track of this pretty good."

"I don't blame you for playing those all the time, when there's not much else to do," Hilda said, nodding to Frank. He smiled and passed her the game with the dimensional warp inside. "This place seems so bizarre yet dreary. If you're going to go the route of escapism, why not go all the way?" He didn't respond immediately, so she waved at him. "Hey, did you ever dream of going to another world?"

Nate glanced up from his DS as Hilda plopped down in the seat across the coffee table. "What for?"

She shrugged and gestured out the window. "Well it's not like this place is that great. Sorry if it offends you."

"Not really," he said, looking back to his game. "I am being escapist, but only with the games, and only because it's as you say."

"Then here, try this one." She tossed the white DS cartridge onto the table between them. "If you start a new game on that, you'll end up in that world."

Picking up the game to look at it, he seemed to be considering it. "Is this that one we were talking about earlier? Why does it interest you?"

"It takes place in my home world. We can tell because it has an odd dimensional warping, like a tiny path back. And with this," she held up the orb bracelet, "Frank and I can activate it to get you there."

He seemed, reasonably so, bewildered by the offer. But not about how it worked. "Why me? You could use it to get back home."

"I read your journal and gave it some thought. I want to talk with Lord N and ask him how he used an artifact like this to move freely to and in my world."

Nate frowned at that. "That's foolish. He hardly listened to me and he said that he trusted me."

Hilda pointed back to the notebook computer on the kitchen counter. "But you also wrote that he remembers me." When he looked blank, she added, "Hilda. I'm gonna try to sort things out with him in exchange for some information." She nearly said 'on how to use this thing properly', but that might scare Nate off. She did hope that he got over safely, so that he could get a second chance.

His eyes lit up. "Oh! You're that Hilda? Well there was some reason to stay. Maybe it was just that I'm afraid of dying with all this going on, because there's no telling where the souls here end up, if they don't just get destroyed outright. But if I can go to a sanely functioning world... would the powers that be let me stay, though? I'd be a total foreigner."

She shrugged. "Maybe you can do something totally awesome that makes my world want to keep you there. I think that could work out; I know some of the 'powers that be', and they've been pretty cool. So, want to go?" She pointed to the game. "You'll have to start a new game. And if you have a copy of your journal, you might want to take it."

Taking the DS cartridge, Nate smiled a little. "Of course. Thanks. I hope I can figure out what to do in order to stay. Anything but remaining here, really." He shut off the game he was playing and swapped it out with the proper one. "I have a PIN drive somewhere as a backup, so we should make sure they say the same things. And I should have something to put the drive in safely."

On searching the apartment, they found a Pokeball necklace that could be used to store the drive. With the help of the orbs, Frank set up the game so that the dimensional pathway would open when a new game file was started. Nate seemed to waver on whether or not to do it, but he let her leave the apartment with her Pokemon to head back to the church. That seemed like a good place to start from.

They got to just outside the church when the orbs began to glow. A huge white circle appeared in the middle of the street; a faint image of Nate was inside. "What's that about?" Tarzan asked.

"Maybe he lost his memory again?" Frank said. "I don't think he's crossed over fully, but he has started to leave."

"That's not good, if he gets stuck," Hilda said. She came to the edge of the circle and saw words floating in the air. They seemed familiar. "Isn't that... it's a script for those Pokemon Trainer sim games. I heard they all start with something similar." A grin came to her face. "Ooo, let's have fun with this."

* * *

Once Nate was safely in her home world, Hilda and her Pokemon continued on into the church. It hadn't changed since last time. Moonlight passed through the stained glass windows, everything was clean and waiting to be used, images of Pokemon and humans were scattered all throughout the building. And at the front of the sanctuary, there was a statue of N, appearing rather like a sorrowful saint.

"Nate said that N was still in the Plasma castle, but I can't see anything like that in this chaotic city," Hilda said. "But he has appeared here."

"Did he turn to stone?" Mimi asked, looking at the statue.

"I don't think so." Taking a moment to brace herself, she shifted her hat. "Okay, I know where to start, but we're basically dealing with a legendary being that has the power and essence of every legend. That means I have no idea what's going to happen when we meet up with him and he will be far too powerful for any of you. He's not mentally or emotionally stable either, so we might be able to get away without a fight... or get swatted like flies in less than a second. If I could make sure the group of you were safe, I'd send you back home, but..."

"You have to return home too," Olette said in her quiet manner. "We won't abandon you here."

"Of course not!" Fedora said, along with the others.

"We're ready for anything," Tarzan said.

"Are you?" Hilda asked. Once they confirmed that, she smiled. "All right then. We have no regrets." She took a deep breath, then shouted, "N! Show yourself! It's me, Hilda Medley! Remember?"

The ground seemed to tremble at N's name, getting worse once she said hers. But 'remember' caused the worst reaction. Outside the church, there was a tremendous racket like the whole city was made of glass and shattering all at once. N's statue crumbled to dust along with a significant portion of the back wall. Past that, there was a pathway of stairs that reminded her of the ones that had led from the Champion's platform into N's castle.

"Sorry Olette, we need speed," Hilda said, taking the Exadrill's Pokeball in hand. She nodded just before being recalled. "Let's go!" They then ran up the stairs, across the chaos caused by the city collapsing into the abyss surrounding it.

After a while, the castle appeared at the other end of the bridge. However, it too was crumbling. They stopped before the rubble started to fall on them. A large chunk of it took out part of the bridge. Looking back, the end they had come from was collapsing. It was happening so quickly that there didn't seem to be time to think up a plan. And then a dark blur surrounded them, with the beating of tremendous wings.

She was deposited in a place lit from some unknown source below, without her Pokemon. Twelve pillars surrounded her in a large circle, each with massive chains attached to them. Broken in pieces, the chains lay scattered around the space like something had recently escaped their hold. Within seconds, the dark creature that had saved her appeared. It was not like any Pokemon she had ever seen before, and yet like all of them. It changed even being observed, mostly like a Dragon with massive feathered wings, but not even certainly that. Sometimes it even vanished for the blink of an eye. Other than darkness, the only color it held was a particular shade of green in its feather tips and eyes.

The Pokemon growled, but seemed more apprehensive as it spoke. "Are you really her? Are you Hilda?" It had N's voice.

Putting on her best bravado, she answered, "No and yes. I'm a Hilda. I'm from another world, the one you visited before. But I'm not the Hilda you knew."

"Then what was that for? The world... what happened? I was keeping it up for... Nate, where's Nate?!" He began looking around frantically, vanishing.

"Don't worry," Hilda said, hoping to call him back. "He's safe. I sent him to my world. It's in a lot better shape than this one." While it calmed him down, N still seemed wary of her when he reappeared. "You were keeping the city intact for him?"

"My last friend alive," N said, his wings lowering. "I kept his building safe and I tried to keep him alive. Even if he didn't realize it, all my focus and power were on that. But you disrupted it and... you... are you her?"

"Yes and no," she repeated. "Are you sure you were putting all of your power to it? If I've read things right, you hold every power in existence. You could remake the whole world if you put your mind to it."

He tilted his wings back and lowered his head in a way that was threatening. "I can't do that. I can't access all the power I have. I can barely use the powers of the Unova guardians and that was the first... the... I can't do that... what kind of nightmare are you? Leave me alone!" The chains began to rise up off the floor, but they seemed to be aimed more at N than her.

"Can you not access them or have you not accepted them?" Hilda asked. According to Nate's notes, he was using amnesia to deny his past and thus his truth. That would make Reshiram's power not work, and possibly others if he denied their principles too.

"Go away!" One of the chains attached to his neck. She didn't quite see the purpose to this, but then something began to appear from the chain, heading to his head as if to form blinders.

"No I won't!" she said in a scolding tone. "What are you doing with those chains? You can't solve your problems by hiding from them."

That caused the chains to slow. "I'm dangerous, I'm evil. I ruined the world. I killed everyone in it but Nate and myself. This is my punishment for that, the only way to make things safe."

She raised an eyebrow at that. "Safe? There's nothing left but you and me now. What happened to my Pokemon friends?"

"They're with you; I sense them. Don't be afraid." He then roared, making the very air shimmer in some kind of an attack. Hilda could feel the power of it like a tremendous noise. But it didn't hurt, not even her ears.

"I'm being brave because I want to help you," Hilda said. "Like I said, there's almost nothing left of your world now and you need to fix that."

He was quiet for a moment, folding his wings up and looking at her. "I... what was that? I can't touch your memory."

She shrugged. "Maybe because I'm not from your world, so you don't have authority over me." She wasn't sure about that, and hoped that he would correct her with the knowledge he should have access to.

"Maybe," he said, uncertain.

"You should know it better than me," she said.

"How can I? I don't always remember..." He kept vanishing and reappearing, until he said, "I almost remember you, Hilda, but something gets in the way. It... makes me feel mad and happy all at once, I don't know."

"You can remember; you have the power of truth within you."

That caused him to tremble, making the chains move again. "No! No I don't!" One of the pillars cracked in response. "What's going on? What happened to my world? Where's Nate? I have to keep him safe, he's my only friend left." Then he started talking in another voice, one that faintly resembled Reshiram. "Failure to accept... failure to maintain... failure to exist... no, I, I don't want to remember! Leave me alone!" Another pillar cracked.

Hilda clutched the orbs tightly. For a moment, she thought of trying to activate their power to get out of here alive; there was enough power floating around that they were glowing again. But she came here to save this version of N. She didn't want to give up. "You have to remember and accept your true power!" she shouted at him. "You can't keep Nate safe while you keep denying it! You have this one last chance to save a friend, but you'll need all the power you hold to do it! Restore the world for him, if not yourself!"

"He... you... you both need that power?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I'd rather not die here. Me and my Pokemon need to get back home to help another friend."

"And your Pokemon... I can save you all?" He was calming down; the chains were stopped, even loosening.

"Only if you accept your full power," Hilda said.

What happened next was like seeing color explode from inside a bubble. The twelve pillars and chains were all demolished, but she and the dragon N remained. Around them, a bewildering amount of scenes appeared all at once. Even if they had gone by slowly, Hilda doubted she could comprehend that mess. Then everything went black save for a circle of light around her. Even N disappeared.

He reappeared a moment later, this time in human form. A shining halo surrounded his whole body and light seemed to come from within his eyes. "You were lying," he said. "Nate was already gone by the time I noticed you."

"You didn't do anything until I did," she pointed out. "But it must have worked because you wouldn't recognized the lie as you were."

"That's right," he said. A world appeared beneath them for a moment, and then they were floating above its surface while it developed incredibly rapidly. "While it was a lie, I was able to make it a truth. Nate can recover in your world. And, I can keep you safe while I remake this world. Hundreds of millions of years are passing us by."

"Certainly looks like it," Hilda said, seeing a lava and smoke filled world fill with water and plants. "What kind of world are you making?"

"Not like what had come before. Accepting the powers I have meant I had to accept the truth. I had to accept the memories that I've denied for many years... you were killed by me when you might have saved me. I killed my brother and father with rage and powers that I didn't comprehend, because my father orchestrated my whole life up until I killed him. Maybe even then; he would have hoped to destroy the world if he could not live in it." He put his hand on his chin. "I know the lies he gave me for what they are, but I still feel wary of humans, even you and Nate. I want a world for Pokemon alone, and that's what has come."

"It's your world now." Then she held the orb bracelet out to him. "Although, you should know how to use this when I don't. I need to get back to my home. One of my friends really needs me."

N drifted closer to her; she could see some kind of vapor coming off him. "I'm sorry, but to do this, I had to release the souls that I absorbed. The legendary Pokemon are being reborn, to recreate all of the Pokemon that were and maybe some that were not. The powers of time, space, and dimension were some of the first that had to go free. But don't worry. There will be a way for you to return, once my task is done."

That was disappointing. "I see. What do you have to do?"

"I... wait a moment." He clapped his hands together, calling out all of Hilda's Pokemon again. "Because this world has no humans naturally, Pokeballs will not function here. For the same reason, something must be done for the Pokemon. Humans and Pokemon depended on each other and now I can see why Pokemon needed humans."

"Why is that?" Hilda asked.

He gestured to them. "Your friends are much greater in heart and mind than they would be on their own. Humans inspire Pokemon. On their own, mortal Pokemon rarely think beyond instinct and daily survival. When placed with a human, they begin to dream, plan, and see the world as far more than just what is immediately before them. A wild Pokemon is not truly capable of love or hate, but they become that way with humans. A legendary Pokemon is more capable of planning and can inspire the mortal ones to some effect. But even their emotional and spiritual growth is stunted without watching humans who can develop in those way naturally."

"So if you're making a world without humans," Frank said, "then you'd want to have a way to allow Pokemon to be inspired and to grow love, even hate, on their own?"

N nodded. "Right. As I am now, I don't think even this will be a perfect world. But, it's the one my heart desires." He reached out to her. "As long as you stay with these friends, you'll be able to move through this world until you can reach your home. You helped me when no one else could; you're my friend too, and that will keep you safe."

Hilda smiled. "Glad to help."

With the growth of the world around them slowing greatly, N put his hands to his chest, creating something. "I'll move you ahead in history some, so you have an easier time finding the way out. But I need to leave you soon to do my own duties. Almost all of the legends have left me. Still, I was in your world once and did some terrible things while I was trying to help. So let me offer something that should actually help." He held both hands out, holding what seemed to be a pale white and green wafer in each. "These are for N and Hilbert in your world."

"Okay, I'll get these to them," she said, taking them. They felt warm.

"We held the power to steal the souls of legendary Pokemon when under great anger and stress, including each others soul. I don't know how well your efforts have gone to combat it in them. However, I know the power since I used it. Consuming these will block off that power entirely. It may end up blocking all of the powers they have. But I always wished to live a normal life of some kind, so I hope it's an acceptable sacrifice to them."

"I'll talk them into it," she said. "With the truth."

This N smiled at her. "Good. Then, it's time to give up my old life as well. Thanks for everything, Hilda. I hope things turn out well for you."

"No problem," she said, shaking his hand. "Goodbye, N."

"Goodbye." He then turned into a being of light which left the bubble they were in. Not long after, it split into three. Zekrom, Reshiram, and Kyurem appeared in the air, then vanished with the passing of time outside the bubble. Things turned white out there.

"Then we've got to navigate this Pokemon only world to find a way back home?" Fedora asked. "This should be an interesting adventure."

"Yeah, it will be," Hilda said. "But we can't dally here too long. We gotta get back to rescue Kyurem... I really hope we can get back to the time we left."

Then the bubble popped, leaving them in a strangely familiar forest. Snow coated the evergreen trees and the land rose up slowly, like a crater. And just behind them, there was a cave where an icy dragon rested.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The dragon form that alternate N takes is actually something that was cut from the original ClicheStorm. My original ending for that story involved the Masterball Professor Juniper gives you just before Victory Road. The Shadow Triad would have stolen that from Hilda, then Ghetsis used it to capture alternate N while he was still wandering around. A few weeks after the battles at N's castle, Ghetsis would have shown up to take out his anger on the whole region with alternate N's dragon form, which has the combined powers of Zekrom and Reshiram. The final final battle would have been him against N.  
> Then the sequels came out and I adjusted the ending to what ClicheStorm has now. The dragon form N actually does make a cameo appearance in that story, in the fever dream chapter N has.


	33. The Haunted House

June 26

Lentimas

As might be expected, Reshiram and Zekrom were greatly upset over finding out what happened. It probably hadn't surprised them, but to confirm that Kyurem, usually the designated troublemaker, was in trouble had them worried sick. They took the mask fragments and headed back to Lentimas.

That afternoon, Rosa, Nate, and Curtis were back in front of the old house outside of Lentimas. The air was still, hot, and oppressive, while the house seemed just as unnerving. "It probably would have been easier with the others the counter the curse," Nate said. "But, it could be a good place to toughen up our Pokemon."

"Well let's stick together, just in case," Rosa said. "You sure you're up to this?"

He rubbed his forehead. "It hurts a little, but not enough to stop me from doing things. I guess it also depends on if any actual ghosts can trigger Memory Link. We'll just have to see."

"Don't hesitate to tell us anything," Curtis said.

"I know. Are we all ready?" Since they were, they headed past the broken gate and inside the house.

Sunlight and heat crept into the house, although both seemed reluctant to do so. In a way, it was a nice house. The front room was huge and open, with large windows casting light on the three grand staircases that led to the second floor. The wooden floors and walls were weathered, with sun-faded patches sweeping across. On the walls, there were several beautiful paintings and portraits. An unlit brass chandelier set with electric candles hung overhead, while fine couches and chairs were covered in dust and holes. Many large pots for indoors plants were scattered about, the plants themselves dead or missing. Strangely, the pots, chairs, tables, and other furniture were scattered about the room thoughtlessly, blocking off several doors. Some giggles from the walls seemed to be from Ghost Pokemon, as they got the interest of Spectra and the other Pokemon out.

"Now that I'm in here, I think I know what you guys were feeling outside," Curtis said. He felt like he was in trouble, but nothing around seemed threatening. Maybe the chandelier if its chain wasn't strong.

"There's a lot of bad memories in this place," Nate said. "A few good ones, I guess, but the whole thing is like some overbearing nightmare."

"Can you see them?" Curtis asked.

He was quiet, then shook his head slowly. "No. Not yet, at least."

"Somebody really hated this place," Rosa said. "But, it's just going to stay like this if no one tries to do anything about it. If it's the legendary Pokemon that was imprisoned here, maybe we can get it to let go of that grudge."

"Like you with that place in Virbank?" Nate asked.

She shivered. "Um... well that one is destroyed, so it doesn't matter."

All but two doors were blocked off, both on the ground level. One led to a formal dining room attached to a kitchen. On one of the dining room chairs, there was a steak knife stuck firmly (and ominously) into the wood. Other than that, the dining room and kitchen seemed as expected: fit for a wealthy family, but unused and dusty. A group of Ghost Pokemon challenged them in the kitchen, which they handled readily.

After checking that door out, they left and found that some of the giant plant pots had been moved. None of them could recall hearing anything. They couldn't make the pots budge either, as they were too heavy even with all three of them trying. "It could be the dirt, but it might also be something supernatural," Nate said. And if it was the latter, there wasn't much they could do about it. They checked out an unblocked door and found stairs heading into the basement.

They went down there and found an interesting room: a private library filled with bookshelves, many of them crammed full. Two small reading areas of chairs, tables, and small lamps were at each end; a staircase at the other end of the room also headed up. On the floor, there were piles of forgotten books about. Some had been chewed up like the furniture, but most were dusty and intact.

At one of the bookshelves nearby, there was a little girl with pigtails and a sundress looking over the books. At least, the image of a girl; she was so pale that she was immaterial. It seemed odd, since it was the middle of the afternoon still. Lifting a foot back and seeming like she might run, the ghost murmured, "You were with the dragons... to hurt them? Or hurt me?"

"No, we're not out to hurt anybody," Rosa said, smiling and stepping closer to the girl. The ghost nearly ran off, so she stopped. "We were helping the dragons, although what we found did make them sad. But we don't mean to hurt them. Or you, we could help you out if you want. Right guys?"

"Sure, what's bothering you?" Curtis said. Nate just nodded. With the way the ghost girl was acting, there seemed to be no reason to be afraid of her.

She leaned away shyly. "Um, miss... you're not human."

"I know that," she said. "I'm Keldeo, but I'm going by Rosa now, and these are my friends Nate and Curtis. Who are you?"

"Kelsey," she said, then gasped. "Um... here." She swung her right hand out. Somehow, this caused three books to fly out of the shelves and land on one of the reading tables. Then she ran off, disappearing before she reached the other stairs.

"I hope this cuts down on the amount of research we need to do in here," Nate said, going over to look at the three books. "Finding anything in this library would take a lot of time, well past when night falls."

"That wouldn't be a good time to be here, I imagine," Curtis said. As there were three books and three of them, they each took one to skim through. There were bookmarks in each, which uncannily were right on target.

…

-excerpts from a diary

(first marked entry, preserving a lock of bright blond hair tied with a pink ribbon marked Kelsey)

I've continued having those sad dreams, ones that make me feel trapped and alone when I wake up. He says it's nothing to be concerned about. He doesn't dream much anyhow, so I don't think he knows how I feel. If it were just that, I would carry on with my day. But, the children and the servants have told me that they've been having similar dreams. It makes the whole household feel like it's brooding. Going out for a walk helps clear the head, but coming back into this atmosphere makes it feel even more oppressive.

He's been getting restless again. Now that I think about it, this all started after the last trip he took. I should warn him not to do anything foolish. Or else, look for a way to make everyone's day brighter. That would be a relief.

(second marked entry, preserving a lock of dark blond hair tied with a blue ribbon marked Antonio)

The servants are threatening to quit. And if they aren't, they're fighting with each other or me. I had to break up an argument between the chef and the maid, as the former had one of her knives and the latter was carrying a fire poker for some reason. Although, I could understand if she wants to defend herself. There's something lurking in the walls of this house. I see it occasionally out of the corner of my eye, a shadow of some figure stalking me. Or I feel them watching me. I'm sure there's more than one. At first, I thought it was just some nuisance Pokemon. But this feels worse, much worse.

He says we're all being over-imaginative. But he isn't in this house all day. What is he up to? I used to not care what he did out in the city, figuring that I'm lucky and blessed to have the life I have. But it doesn't feel blessed anymore. What does he know? I know he knows something. He had that look on his face when I told him about the nightmares everyone seems afflicted with. He said he'd do something about it, but it only seems to have gotten worse. What did he do to us?

(third marked entry, with a black ribbon)

Gods, please save my children. Even these pages are bleeding.

…

-excerpts from 'A Natural Catalog of Living Legends and Their Stories', plus handwritten notes and marks

Cresselia: ( _has to be it_ ) Cresselia is the goddess of the crescent moon. She is presumed to be of the Psychic, Flying, or Fairy classifications, although the limits of her contact prevents scientific confirmation. Originating in Sinnoh, she is known in a number of regions, if not as many as other moon deities confirmed to be a living legend. Said to greatly dislike Darkrai, be friends with the illusion of the Sinnoh lakes. ( _these relations parts are probably unreliable_ )

Most contact made with Cresselia is through dreams, due to her power to protect the dreams of innocents. She can break any nightmare and undo some curses of other Pokemon. Keeping one of her feathers close is believed to prevent nightmares and soothe those who suffer emotional problems. Seeing her in the waking world is rare, as she has some power over illusions to hide herself. But she is said to be one of the most beautiful Pokemon in the world when one does get a glimpse of her. ( _can cause sad dreams too? or it may be their imagination_ )

Ninetails: ( _not quite, but still nice to have_ ) Ninetails is a rarely seen Pokemon said to live a thousand years. Sometimes it allows itself friendship with humans, thus we know it is of the Fire classification. Its origins are mysterious ( _it evolves from vulpix. not mysterious at all and embarrassingly easy to get for its reputation. just a secret of some families. most of this article is folklore and ninetails shouldn't be considered on the same level as the other living legends_ ).

Darkrai: ( _would be far more impressive than her_ ) Darkrai is the god of the new moon. He is presumed to be of the Dark classification, although not confirmed ( _is confirmed_ ). Originating in an old kingdom in Sinnoh, he is known in many regions. Seemingly not well liked by other legends, although he cooperates best in the presence of Cresselia.

Darkrai has the power to inflict nightmares and manipulate dreams, as well as increase retained memories of dreams. Some areas say that he is a curse when he appears. However, other areas build shrines to him, saying that it is a test of bravery to spend the night in one and expose yourself to his power. He is definitely known to be a trickster, sometimes punishing those who take advantage of or harm others. ( _there seem to be few records of his captivity, only in his earliest Sinnoh legend. but if I can take her, I can surely take him._ )

…

-excerpt from 'The History and Trials of Reshiram and Zekrom'

...was foolish, but because it was the king's request, Eridanus went ahead and crafted it. He was unaware of the false nature of the Black King's claims, as it could not be confirmed or denied with the story of Zekrom wishing to withdraw from human society save for the king. And once Eridanus set himself to the project, he would not quit working until it was complete.

Thus the Splicer artifact was created after many months of work. The false Black King had grown increasingly erratic and strict over that time, plus none outside the king's guard saw Zekrom in all that time. Having been secluded in his workshop, Eridanus had not noticed and presented the artifact to the king in confidence. He was then thrown into jail to keep its construction and use secret.

The king then revealed that it had been Kyurem who had sided with him, not Zekrom. But he still had Zekrom's hibernating presence with him. Using the Splicer, he caused Kyurem and Zekrom to become fused into one powerful being, able to bring ruinous storms of ice and thunder across all of Unova, even into neighboring regions. He said that the balance of power was in his favor and would never fall out as long as he had the Black Kyurem under his control.

When things seemed bleak, a true White Queen emerged with Reshiram from the small village of Opelucid.

…

Nate found troubling information in the book he had. But while he was reading, he heard the other two start to discuss what they were finding. "Compared to that story we got, it looks like the rich man captured Cresselia first, then Darkrai second," Curtis said.

"Really?" Rosa asked. "This seems to be a diary of his wife, and she says that everyone living here was fighting and having nightmares. Also something about sad dreams and the pages bleeding."

"Is there blood?" Curtis asked, leaning over to see.

She held the book out for him to see. "I don't see any."

"Huh. Well mine has mention of sad dreams too... in the margins here, connected to Cresselia. So maybe being held in the attic in a Pokeball kept her unhappy, so her power made everyone's dreams unhappy instead of pleasant like normal?"

Rosa nodded. "Yeah, and then when he got Darkrai, that's when things went crazy. He must have convinced her to curse this place with him."

Curtis looked back at his book. "This says that they didn't get along, but this would have been published before the incident. But I'm sure that would be a good reason to work with a former enemy. We might have to talk them into revoking it... but I don't know how. Even getting in contact with them could be trouble. Unless, do you think you could contact them as Keldeo?"

"I dunno," she said, shrugging. "Reshiram and Zekrom might be able to help, but they have a lot on their minds... oh, or Meloetta! I think I could call on her, maybe if I returned to Virbank where we ran into her before. Well not specifically there; that place should be wrecked now. What do you have, Nate?"

"Something that could be a lot of trouble in the future," Nate said, showing them them bookmark that had picked out the particular part of his book. It was a handwritten note on a paper with Team Plasma's symbol on it.

The two of them stared at it. "What, their plans, here?" Rosa asked.

"You did say that we were helping the dragons," Nate told her. "And since Team Plasma was researching it two or three years ago, we ought to bring their attention to this Splicer artifact."

"I haven't heard of that."

"Reminds me of a sci-fi short I did once, with a DNA splicer to mix Pokemon genes," Curtis said.

He nodded. "That's the idea of it. This artifact can be given to Kyurem to allow him to fuse with either of his siblings. It makes sense; he is neutrality and nothingness. Anyhow," he looked back at the book, "this story tells of its creation and the battle it led to between Reshiram and what they call 'Black Kyurem', because he was fused with Zekrom. Reshiram actually won that one, due to the help of his partner at the time. They used the Splicer to separate the other two, then the hero tried to find a way to destroy it. Unable to do so, she kept it in her possession, bringing it into obscurity."

"But it got in that book and now Plasma knows about it, huh?" Rosa asked, frowning at the thought. "Are they keeping Kyurem to fuse him with one of the others?"

"It's possible. According to this note, there's a report somewhere about a scientific study of the Splicer, so it still exists. It'd be nice to find that, but what's nicer is that the Plasma research left the name of one of the authors: Professor C. Juniper."

"So we just have to ask her about where it is," Rosa asked. "But, so would they as long as they didn't tell her who they were."

"Actually, I think that's her father, Cedric Juniper," Curtis said. "I met them once at a charity event. But still, you might be able to get in contact with him through her."

Nate opened up his Xtransceiver, to take some photos of the book and the note. "I don't know about removing the books, but maybe the note's okay to take. We'll alert people that this could happen, then maybe it won't. First things first: while we're here, we should see what we can do about this house."

Trying to go back up the way they came found a couch sitting on one end, completely blocking the way. For a moment, it seemed like something was looking around it at them. The other doorway was unblocked, but they found themselves kept to the other door downstairs and the eastmost staircase. In the ground floor room, they found a living room.

In some ways, it was normal. Shared between the adults and children, there was a corner with old toys left to gather cobwebs and a large fireplace with a single table in front of it. Some of the couches and chairs in the front room might actually belong here. There were fake panels on some of the walls, one partly opened to reveal an old liquor cabinet with a counter that could be swung out. Although there was no fire, the room smelled faintly of smoke. And there was faded writing where someone had scribbled 'let her go' all over the floor and walls.

They left the living room after seeing that Kelsey wasn't there. As they did, the scene seemed to flicker. There was was something on the floor under the chandelier. A broken vase, or even blood? But it didn't last long as the room returned to how it had been. "Really getting creepy now," Rosa said quietly.

"We could climb over these pots and leave, I think," Curtis said.

Nate shook his head. "No... I wouldn't advise that. The spirits of the house are trying to guide us somewhere and they could turn nasty if we don't play along with them. Kelsey gave us a helpful warning, so at least she's okay. Our Pokemon..." he called out Signet, who became alert immediately. "The Ghosts should be able to tell us if we're really in trouble. Are these spirits out to hurt us?"

Signet paused, then pointed upwards. Something above them could cause problems. But otherwise, he didn't seem too concerned. Neither did Spectra, who was still grinning, nor Medusa, who seemed able to float over the pots with no repercussions. However, the Frillish did point something out to them, one of the paintings.

"Was it upside-down like this earlier?" Rosa asked.

"It might not be important," Nate said. It was a landscape, presumably around Driftveil. "We'll see."

Upstairs, only the central room was blocked off. The two other rooms were bedrooms, presumably of the two kids who had lived here originally. Although, some items left behind seemed newer. For the people who tried to live in here after them? There were spots in the bedrooms that seemed oddly cold. In the western bedroom, they briefly saw the ghost of a blond-haired boy younger than Kelsey. He ran off towards the central room before they could talk to him.

Looking in the two bedrooms convinced the ghosts to allow them into the central room upstairs, but not back downstairs. The central bedroom was a disaster: the furniture was broken violently, a smaller flowerpot was smashed on the floor, there was a stained sheet on the floor apparently covering up a body. A scream came from right behind them... but there was no one there.

When they turned back around, the master bedroom seemed completely normal. The furniture was in good shape, there was no body on the floor, the flowerpot was on a table by an old computer (but its flower had long ago turned black in death). Instead, Kelsey's ghost stood in the back of the room, the boy ghost standing just behind her. "Umm, can we test your Pokemon?" she asked, nervously swaying. "In case you can help..."

"Sure," Nate said, along with the agreement of what Pokemon they had out.

"Mine haven't battled anything but wild Pokemon for a long while, but we'll try," Curtis said.

"Then we'll all prove ourselves," Rosa said.

"Okay," Kelsey said, then called in a dozen powerful Pokemon. It was a hectic battle against the mix of Ghost and Dark Pokemon, since they all participated at once. But Kelsey gave the Pokemon living there no guidance, so with some thought and Nate taking the lead, they managed to win.

"S-strong," the boy said, then whistled. A white light came over all of the Pokemon there, reviving and healing them.

"You can go now, friends," Kelsey said. "But you all... um, we haven't seen our parents in a really long time. They were up in the attic last I knew, but it's a really scary place."

"R-really sca-scary," the boy mumbled.

She pointed a closet door. "So, could you please go let them out?"

"We'll see what we can do," Nate said.

"Oh come on, we'll do it," Rosa said, more optimistically going to open the door.

"It can't be easy if it hasn't been done yet," he pointed out, going to make sure nothing nasty came out at them. Behind the door, there was a narrow dimly lit set of stairs, heading up.

In the attic, the house gave up any pretense of being normal. It was frigid up here, with heavy mist obscuring the air. They couldn't see their feet well, although every step made a crunch like icy snow. In the distance, it sounded like chains were being dragged around by someone who was sobbing and muttering incoherently for help. The very air seemed filled with sorrow. There was a darkness overhead, likely the roof. From the looks of it, they got the impression that the roof could collapse and crush them.

Searching the attic didn't take long; they found the ghosts of the parents in the center, pinned into place by five foot long icicle spikes. There were odd spirits near them, laughing and whispering things, but those scattered when the Pokemon approached them. Nate examined the structure of the icicles and had Ruby help him remove them with careful fire. Once they were free, the two ghosts looked at each other for a moment, not saying anything.

"We came up here to help you out," Rosa said. "Kelsey and Antonio are waiting below."

"Are they all right?" the woman asked.

"They're scared to come up here, but they seem okay," she said. "They helped us out."

"Thank goodness." She put her hand on her chest and bowed her head in relief.

The man turned to them. "Thank you. But, I'm not sure how we can get out of here. It is our fault."

"Our fault?" the woman snapped, much to his surprise. "Don't think I didn't notice."

"N-notice what?" he asked, stepping back.

She crossed her arms across her chest. "When that nightmare said that he'd let one of us go. I said that I'd stay here with you, because I was your wife and I wasn't going to leave you to suffer alone. But you said that you wanted to leave, not a thought to me or the children."

"He had no intention of..." the man tried to say.

But she wouldn't hear of it. "And what if he had? I thought you cared about us, but you don't. You're the reason he's here in the first place!"

"No escaping your responsibilities," a male voice said in the mist. Red eyes appeared in a dark form.

"Is it Kyurem up here?" Rosa asked. "Because it's so cold."

"Is he?" Curtis asked skeptically.

He wasn't. A phantom-like Pokemon emerged from the mist instead; Darkrai did not look happy. "Don't interfere with their punishment," he said, then send a black shockwave through everyone there.

"Ruby, use Flame Charge," Nate ordered. She'd been using it for a long time, but it was still sufficiently strong and the speed boosts helped immensely. Then, "Curtis, send Spectra out for support. Do what you like; she'll help just in participating."

"If you say so," Curtis said, putting her on the ground to go help out. Spectra had Pressure as an ability, something that, to Nate's recollection, many legendary Pokemon had access to. He thought Darkrai had a different ability, but in case it was Pressure, that should even things out a little.

Darkrai was still powerful, taking out Ruby and leading Nate to ask for River to help out. This wasn't an ordinary Pokemon, so ordinary battling wouldn't suffice. Still, when the Lucario struck Darkrai hard enough to turn him into smoke, Nate felt wary. The battle seemed too short.

"Did you free us?" the woman asked, looking towards the stairs with thoughts of her children.

"Not quite," Darkrai said, reappearing. But he was different, with blue eyes and a stronger presence. The attic seemed to darken. "What's going on here?"

"We just defeated you, or so it seemed," Nate said.

Darkrai shook his head. "That was a nightmare I left behind at this place. It'll regenerate as long as the curse remains intact. When I felt it disrupted, I came to see. Please leave; it's not safe to stay here." He started to leave.

"Wait a minute!" Rosa said, putting her hand on her sword necklace. "Would you lift the curse on this place already? It's been, what, a hundred years?"

"Why should we?" he said, narrowing his eyes. "They disrespected us, thought they could possess us. They should suffer."

"Not all of them," she said. "You've got at least three ghosts in here that had nothing to do with the captivity of yourself or Cresselia. All they did was live here. Only one person captured you both and kept you here."

"They did nothing to free her," Darkrai said, still angered.

"We, we weren't sure," the woman said, afraid.

"That's not justice," Rosa said, bringing out her sword. "I can understand not liking this place, but aren't you taking this too far? You've got their children trapped in this place too."

"And other children who've died here," the woman said, clasping her hands together and still seeming nervous. But it was important to her. "I've heard them."

"Children," Darkrai said, his anger dissipating. "A hundred years is too long for them. Fine, I'll allow her to take the children and other souls out of here." Then he glowered at the man. "But not him. Even in death, he hasn't learned his lesson. But I alone can't break the curse. I can lift my half of this. You have to convince Cresselia to lift the other half. Just don't call her in here; I don't want to see her return to this place. If you don't convince her, I'll put my half back in place to keep him in torment."

"How do we find her?" Nate asked.

"That's up to you to figure out." He then turned to Rosa. "I don't believe we've met... although you're obviously not in the best of shape at the moment. Don't try anything here. I will keep my word about letting the others free." Darkrai then disappeared into the mist.

The woman's ghost then approached them. "Thank you for your help. I'll find the children so we can leave quickly." She headed downstairs without a word to her husband.

"What about me?" the man's ghost said, coming towards them. However, a volley of ice spikes flew into him, knocking him out of their sight and away from the staircase.

"It still seems excessive," Rosa said, putting her sword up and seeming annoyed. "And what did he mean about that? Not in the best of shape... I still get a lot of exercise."

"I think it might be about how you can't change into your true form as Keldeo," Nate said. "Well you heard him. If we want to address this, we need to find Cresselia."

"How are we doing that?" Curtis asked. But nothing seemed to come in mind for now, so they headed back downstairs.

In the main room, much of the larger furniture had been removed, giving them free access to all the rooms and the front door. The sunlight had nearly disappeared from the room, leaving barely enough light to see by. Down on the ground floor, they found the woman's ghost again, along with five children and seven adults. "I think we found everyone," she said. "Thanks again for talking him into letting us go."

"It's fine," Rosa said.

"You might want to leave now, before the night makes the Ghost Pokemon really active," Nate said.

"Yes," she said, as others started to leave through the front door.

Kelsey came up to them before leaving. "Here, I don't need this anymore," she said, handing Nate a crescent-shaped feather, colored green with golden specks. "Give it back to the Pokemon if you can."

Guessing that it was from Cresselia, he nodded. "All right, thanks."


	34. Poketalk in Reversal Mountain

June 27

Lentimas

There really wasn't any place to spend the night in Lentimas. Last night, they had managed to get rooms with various residents in exchange for their stories of why they were here and what they'd been doing. N hadn't felt much like talking, but between Hilbert, Rosa, and Nate, the group had satisfied the town's curiosity and earned some places to stay. But tonight, it would be better to be move on somewhere else, in camping or flying back to other towns.

"What're you thinking about this morning, N?" Hilbert asked, after they met up in the street.

He rubbed his head. "It's more like what I've been thinking all night. At first, I was worried about hearing that Hilda was in a whole different world, the one that the other N I met came from. But then I realized, it could be a lot worse than that. She felt confident enough in her plans that she sent Nate back the first way they found. I think she'll come back when she's done, then tease us for being worried."

"That does sound like what she'd do," Hilbert said.

N nodded. "So we should focus on finding Kyurem now, as well as the people claiming to be Team Plasma. Finding one should lead to the other. Are there any clues about where they're hiding?"

"We came across one spot, in the tunnels connected to Castelia's sewers," Rosa said.

"I don't think that will help much, unless they're deeper in the side tunnels," Nate said. "They've been traveling around in small groups, it seems, meeting up in out of the way spots like those sewers. And Hugh suspected they had another meeting spot on the northeastern coast. Where their main base is hasn't been discovered."

"I also thought about checking with a weather research group," N said. "Kyurem tends to make places he's at cooler than normal, right? Well we can discount Lacunosa. it would be obvious if he was there; Hilda showed me pictures of the frost that crops up there when he's around, even on warm days. So like how they can track Tornadus and Thundurus by unusual storm activity, they might be able to pick out odd patterns of cold temperatures to figure out where he is."

"It's more pronounced when he's a dragon, but that might help," Reshiram said. In contrast, Zekrom hadn't really spoken since they found Kyurem's broken mask.

"Well, we wanted to go looking for Cresselia," Rosa said. "It's probably not connected, but when we went back to the house yesterday, we found Darkrai and got him to lift his half of the curse."

"There's that, but we should also look into talking to Professor Juniper and her father," Nate said. "They'd know more about that Splicer from Plasma's notes."

"The Splicer?" Reshiram asked, immediately concerned. Zekrom even looked up to stare at Nate for mentioning that. "What about it?"

Prepared for that reaction, Nate brought out a slip of paper and handed it to Reshiram. "This was in the basement library of that house, marking a story about the Splicer's creation. It seems that Plasma knows it exists and the Junipers know where it might be." Then he gave an explanation for N and Hilbert, that this artifact could forcibly fuse either of the dragons here with Kyurem. "I thought we could pass through Reversal Mountain to Undella, and take the subway there to Nuvema. If they haven't made any moves to capture either of these two yet, we might have time."

"Yeah, and we haven't met Professor Juniper yet, even though we're helping her with Pokedex research when we have time," Rosa said.

"We might have time, but we'll have to be careful," Reshiram said. "The four of us can look into the weather and tracking down Kyurem. I have a feeling it would do the three of you better to follow that plan to get to Nuvema."

"Are you sure you don't want to go find the Splicer?" N asked. "It sounds like a dangerous artifact to not know where it is."

Reshiram nodded. "We'll call attention to it if we go looking, while it will seem reasonable for us to be searching for our brother. I have a good idea of where it is, or rather, who would have it. He'll need to be warned, yes, but I have confidence in him."

They all agreed to the plans, so the two groups split up once again.

* * *

Bard ran through the grasses ahead of everyone else. It made an extra rustling going through this dry grass and the Dewott knew how to make the most noise. If Rosa needed him, he'd be able to get back quick. He stopped when he came to the split in the road. The south path led to that weird house, while the north path led into a cave. Either way, he felt there could be fun waiting. Either spookiness or unknown adventure. He looked back at the group "Hey, where're we going?" he called.

Rosa pointed north. "That way, Bard! Don't get too far ahead."

Standing up on his hind legs, he called back,"Yay, can you understand us again?"

Apparently not, as she went back to talking with Curtis and Nate. Bard ran to the cave entrance, making sure to kick a large pebble into the bushes to make even more noise. He stopped right at the division between inside and outside to peek around inside. There was a short path before it headed off to the right. Further in, he could hear voices talking. He waited for the others to catch up.

"Aw, why do you keep running ahead today?" Medusa said. The Frillish waved a tentacle at him. "You're not playing with us."

"I'm being a scout today!" Bard said. "I'm seeing what's ahead."

"You're being rather too noisy to be a proper scout," River said. "But if it amuses you, go for it."

Bard smiled; it used to be that she wouldn't add the later part to her criticisms. But she was getting nicer. "Of course!" he said. "I'll find something interesting!" Then he rushed into the tunnel to scout it out. Past the turn, he came across a small chamber where a familiar young woman was talking with a Samurott. They were here, of all places? Bard rushed towards them. "Mom! I found you!"

Suzy accepted his hug with a bump on his head. "Hello, yes you did. You were going by Bard now, right?"

"Right!"

Bianca giggled. "Oh, is that you, Bard? What are you doing here on your own?"

"Bianca?" Rosa called. "Hey, didn't expect to find you here."

"Ah, that's why he's here," Bianca said with a smile. "I could say the same for the two of you. Seems a little early for you to be around this place."

"We're doing several things around here," Nate said. He then introduced Bianca and Curtis to each other, then gave a review of what had happened recently.

The Pokemon listened as well. "Yeah, we've seen lots of awesome things," Bard said. "And I'm going to be an awesome singer, cause I'm going to listen to Curtis here and imitate him."

"That sounds like a good plan," Suzy said.

"Wow, you two have gotten into excitement," Bianca said to Nate's story. "But yeah, I think Hilda's going to be okay. It's good to know where she is, at least."

"Then what are you doing here?" Nate asked.

"I'm doing some research on my own." She turned and pointed to the entrance to the next part of the caverns. "Reversal Mountain is an odd place. Sometimes it's full of lava, and other times it's damp and full of water. I found out when I read some old books. While they weren't sure what made it do so, I think it might be due to a legendary Pokemon. I've been here for a few days gathering evidence. It was cold and swampy when I arrived, stayed that way to yesterday, but this morning it became full of lava. If I wait enough time, it should cool back off, but I believe I can find the source of it all now."

"That's quite a change for that short of a time," Curtis said.

Bianca nodded. "Yes, if it's true. It's just my theory right now. So, you're all heading to Undella? The path through here will take you there, but the Pokemon in here are really strong and there's multiple paths with dead ends. Would you like me to show you the right path through?"

"It might be a good place to train, but it would help to get to Nuvema quickly," Nate said. "Thanks."

"No problem... oh!" She snapped her fingers. "You were planning on taking the subway? Well there isn't a stop in Nuvema. You'll need to take the train to Accumula. It's a short walk south from there. Come on."

"Hey." Someone nudged Bard and he turned to see another Samurott there, one he didn't recognize. "Hey, is this what you're going to look like? Be big and strong!"

"I don't think so," Bard said, starting off after the teens. "I like running and being fast! It's got to be hard to walk on land like that, isn't it mom?"

"Yes, but you'd become much much faster in the water," Suzy said. And despite Bard's thought, she kept up with them easily.

"And it'd be hard to dance," Bard added. "I'd have to focus on singing."

"But this fellow seems to be rather fast," she said, causing the other Samurott to laugh.

"That's because he's not a Samurott," River said. "What are you doing here?"

On being revealed, the Samurott turned into a Zorua. He wagged his tail enthusiastically "Haha, I followed you guys! It was tough cause you flew off with the dragons, but I'm real clever. You're on an adventure, and I wanna come too!"

"Who are you again?" Bard asked, not sure if he'd met this Pokemon before or not.

"It's Felix, the Zorua who was with the people in Driftviel," River explained. "I thought you were supposed to be guarding them."

He nodded. "I was, but that was cause I was the most capable Pokemon there for a long time. It's true! But as the others have made a good recovery, they're able to guard everyone instead. So I'm off to find my fortune once again. Hah, last time I did, I traveled all the way across White Forest all on my own, and ended up at Dragonspiral Tower where I met my father! I can't wait to see what happens this time!"

As he was excitedly yipping by this point, he got the attention of the humans there. "Hey, is that the Zorua that was in Driftviel?" Curtis asked. "What are you doing all the way over here?"

"It's me, it's me!" Felix said. He flipped his head around and somehow, a small Pokeball appeared in his mouth. He tossed it at Nate, who caught it at full size. "I came prepared!"

Nate looked at it, then nodded. "Yes, this is him. You really are an adventurous one, Felix."

"But I'm cute, and that makes up for any trouble, right?" the Zorua asked, head cocked.

"Good grief," River muttered, not too happy with that.

"Well you can travel with us for a little while, until I can transfer you back to Rood," Nate said, taking out a tissue to wipe off the ball before placing it in the last slot of his Pokeball holder.

"I'm gonna convince you otherwise before then," Felix said in confidence.

* * *

They were inside of a large cavern. Bright flows of glowing lava ran along the sides of the halls, making the air hot, dry, and stinky. Not wanting to touch the hot ground with his feet, Grim flew close to the group, in particular Ruby and Spectra. "I'm sure you could survive a dip in those lava streams," Spectra said. "But it would give them such a delightful fright, a break in tedium of all this walking."

"I'm not going to scare Nate, or his friends," Ruby said.

The Spiritomb made a face. "But scaring and being scared are the best. You feel your life force pulsing so strongly, then the smiles when the joke is realized. It's how you really know you're alive."

She shrugged. "Maybe to you. I feel my lifeforce best when in battle or playing games with the team, if you mean by when your heart beats strong and you feel really happy. Since I don't want to risk making a friend mad at me for scaring them, I won't do go jumping in the lava."

"Bah, does no one want to play a good prank?" Spectra asked in annoyance. She looked up at him. "What about you, Grim? You have the name of a reaper." She giggled.

"I know," Grim said. "My first Trainer named me that because he wanted me to be big and scary. Then he found out that I was a Ducklett. I don't remember anything about him other than that."

"I don't like Trainers like that," Patience said quietly, having slipped around to Ruby's side (with the Pignite between her and Spectra).

"Can't say if I like him or not, cause I hardly knew him," Grim said. "Rosa doesn't mind if I wander off a little ways, so I like her."

"Well that gives you a good chance to spook someone," Spectra said, her mind working at another plan. "You can fly off, they won't immediately notice, then go right up behind them and yell 'Booga booga!'. I used to do that to Curtis, but then he started expecting it."

"You can't fly," Grim pointed out.

"I can poke through walls, so that's about the same effect," she said. "So? Go scare 'em!"

"I don't want to do that."

When Spectra groaned melodramatically, some of the others laughed. "What do you want to do, Grim?" Ruby asked, smiling. "Maybe not just now, but overall. I'm curious."

"Haven't really thought of it," the Ducklett said. "You've stuck with your original Trainer, so maybe you don't know how it is: just drifting through life, spending time in the Pokeball's dreamworld and battling so much that it doesn't really mean anything anymore. Although, there was that one thing Rosa told me."

"What thing?" Patience asked, twisting her ear his way.

He slowed a bit as the group was pausing; Bianca was telling them of a tunnel that led downward where some special Pokemon lived. Ignoring that conversation in favor of talking with the other Pokemon, Grim explained, "She told me about some of her dreams the other morning, about running on top of the water and jumping around in rocky waterfalls. That sounds like fun. I started thinking, you know, I'm not in the water as much as I was when I was still wild. I end up flying more often than not, but it's kinda awkward with these wings. After hearing of her dreams, I started wondering how it was to move in the air and water equally well. It'd be great fun to soar into the sky like I can dive into the water. So, I'm gonna work on my flying; that's my dream now."

"That's a good goal," Ruby said, nodding in approval.

"I think it's kinda weak," Spectra said. "Don't you evolve? That's probably all you need."

Grim didn't mind. "I'm a simple 'mon; doesn't take much to make me happy." He noticed that Patience nearly said something, but didn't. "What do you want to evolve into, Patience?"

"Huh, me?" she asked, startled. "Um... I'm not sure. There's lots of ways I could evolve."

"You should die and be a ghost like me!" Spectra said, then giggled.

The Eevee lowered her ears. "I don't think so. But, um... my first Trainer said that I was fine as an Eevee, but if a sign came up, then I'd know what I was going to be. I don't know if I've seen the sign yet, though. I'm not sure what I'm looking for in it."

"Like it'd be written in human language somewhere on a board what you'd turn into?" Grim asked, puzzled. "That's amazing."

"It's not a board sign. It's just... a sign that I'll know when I see it. At least, I should know it."

"You guys are so boring," Spectra said, rolling her eyes. "The only Pokemon I know that's more boring is Lorax, because he sleeps all the time."

"I don't think it's boring to have small dreams," Ruby said. "A small dream can mean a lot to the Pokemon that holds it."

"That's how I feel about mine," Grim said.

"Hey Grim, Chuchu!" Rosa called. "It's our turn to battle!"

Grim put on a quick burst of speed to get in front of Rosa. "Right here."

The Chinchou joined him in battling a Darmanitan and a Boldore, which wasn't that hard. They were certainly getting interrupted a lot, but the four humans were taking turns with their teams to battle the wild Pokemon. Maybe they'd even mix the teams up again, like when Nate sometimes borrowed Pokemon from Rosa or Curtis for a single battle to help out. Although, they might not work as smoothly with Bianca's Pokemon, who they hardly knew. Grim was getting to know his teammates and traveling companions well.

It wasn't time for him to evolve yet. He hadn't had a sign, like Patience had put it. However, it seemed the time was right for Chuchu to evolve, as she grew into being a Lanturn after that battle.

* * *

Chuchu was excited. Here, she got to swim in the air alongside her favorite person, be with lots of Pokemon friends, put out fires and never run out of them (although she could only make the lava hiss), and now she was a Lanturn! She had waited for years for Rosa to come back, having faith that she would come looking. After all, even though she had let Chuchu go, she had been sad to do so. And that faith had paid off; she'd never have to be lonely again.

That didn't mean her worries were over. There were still things that didn't seem right, or might go wrong. But she was back with Rosa, so she could help keep her safe if things went wrong. Although, one of the things she worried about now was about Rosa, and really hard to decide on. Was it good or bad?

Nearby, she noticed that Nate's Golett Signet had a passenger: Cathy the Petlil was riding on his shoulder, bopping her top leaves about. Chuchu swam over to them. "I hope you're not troubling him," she said.

"Oh, no no, he offered to carry me," the Petlil said, grinning.

"I was starting to smell her leaves," Signet said.

Cathy nodded. "Yeah, the floor is sooooo hot that I might've turned into ashes! I tried to avoid the lava, but even the middle of the paths is hot hot red hot."

"You could have just gone back to your Pokeball," Chuchu said.

"No way! Why would I want to miss out on walking with everybody? And I can fight too! Didja see me earlier? I smacked that big ol' rock around, whack!"

"As long as you don't try to fight the fire," Signet said.

Chuchu made her antennae sparkle. "Yeah, leave them to me! I'll put 'em out."

"Okay, you do that." Cathy started bopping again. "So, so, you're really lucky! You get to be one of Rosa's Pokemon! I wish I could've gone with her. Nate's cool, and smart, but I liked Rosa the moment I saw her. She saved my life! I hope I can repay her someday. But she gets all nervous around me. I don't know why. I'm nice, I really am! I wanna dance with her."

"She's always been scared of Grass Pokemon, at least as long as I've known her," Chuchu said. "When she was little, she cried if one surprised her. She's trying to be nice to you, but she's still nervous."

"I won't hurt her. And, you knew her a long time? That's great! Did you know that she was Keldeo? That was amazing! I thought I'd never see a legendary Pokemon, much less one that looks like a human, but now I've seen three! I heard Kyurem passed by my home area, but I never came across him."

"I didn't know she was Keldeo before," Chuchu said, having to interrupt or Cathy would have kept talking. "But I did feel like there was something different about her even early on. She just felt closer to me than to humans, although I couldn't really explain to myself why. Now, I think it's because she has the power of Water and we can feel it even though she doesn't use it."

"Yeah. I wonder if she can use it. She can use the power of Fighting with her sword. How can we make her use the power of Water? Maybe you all should take her out swimming in the ocean! And see if she can still run on it!"

"That would be an interesting sight," Signet said.

Cathy nodded and started talking again, her ideas rambling as if she spoke every new thought. At least Signet doesn't seem to mind listening to her, Chuchu thought. Talking wasn't much good if no one listened.

* * *

At the other end of the winding paths, they left the mountain and ended up at a construction site. Behind a fence, a group of workers were putting together a new building. The road at their feet was half-finished, waiting for paving. There was a cool mist in the air, smelling lightly of ocean salt; the ocean itself could be heard faintly over the equipment running. "Well here you are in Undella," Bianca said. "I'll keep an eye out for those new Plasma people, although I really can't think of any like you described. But my research and what I help the professor with take me all over the wilderness, so we might see something most wouldn't."

"Be careful then," Rosa said.

She nodded. "You too." They thanked her again and said goodbye as Bianca headed back into the mountain caves.

After walking around the construction site, they came right to the famed sandy beaches of Undella. Many people were there: swimming, sunbathing, playing with frisbees, battling. To the south, there were many wooded cliffs, hard to see with the mist hanging around. Most of Undella's buildings seemed to be to the north, a cluster of wealthy homes and businesses. The ocean lay to the east, coming in gentle waves. And out in the misty distance, there was a familiar shadow.

Rosa noted it immediately. "Hey, isn't that the cool old ship out there? I wonder what it's doing here."

"I wonder what it's doing period," Nate said. "It seems too big for a fishing vessel, but not the right size or shape for shipping. Maybe if it was a tourist thing, but it's obviously private as they don't seem to let anyone on or off.

Curtis shrugged. "I can't see it well, but it sounds like it could be someone's hobby to me. I know a number of upper class families who love boating. Although, not with an antique-styled sailing ship."

"A frigate," Rosa said. "And it is kinda weird. I still hope I can go on it some time." She turned to Curtis. "I guess you've been here a lot, huh? Got any place cool we can visit?"

He rubbed his head nervously. "Well... there are plenty of places that'd be fun to visit. But, I don't think we should hang around long. I'm not sure about it, but last I knew, my parents were here. I don't want to run into them yet."

"Oh yeah, we can't do that," she said.

"Let me call Professor Juniper and let her know we'll be by then," Nate said, flipping open his Xtransceiver. "We might be able to find a place to stay the night in Nuvema."


	35. Mental Screens

June 28

Celestial Tower

Being away from the rest of Team Plasma, Colress let himself relax a little. This was a tense time, even though the only important thing going on was shuffling people and Pokemon around to keep out of the eyes of the public and the police. There was really no reason why they couldn't make the next move on Ghetsis' main plan. With all the research he had done, Colress knew where to go, what to do, who to meet, how to get it done. Once that got rolling, there wouldn't be much that could stop the process from continuing.

And that was exactly why Colress was stalling. Things could stay as they were now; the next step could be delayed for a few months, maybe even a year if they were clever. But once that step got completed, he'd have his hands full guiding, advising, observing, and misdirecting. He'd have to focus on that project for a good length of time. Before he was willing to commit to that, he had other projects that he wanted to complete.

Such as his study of Pokemon training and Trainers. He could see the fruits of that forming, but it still needed some time to ripen. The tournament, that was his goal for that study. Some of the slots were being filled by those he had nudged into place. Others were being filled by his study subjects without their realizing it. Those not directly in the tournament were moving into place. Come August, he would have the main test of that study, to see what really mattered in training Pokemon.

As part of his stalling, he had started up a diversion plot that, while risking some complications, would offer up a red herring to those who had starting noticing them. The red herring ploy would take until late August to fulfill and thankfully Ghetsis had seemed interested in it. If he caught on to the bluffs about Kyurem not being ready yet, he'd be furious and Colress would be in hot water. Colress saw no warning signs yet and he had a dozen arguments to distract his boss with. Maybe more.

He walked past the large swirled tower of graves and into the trees north of it. After a moment, his Elgyem Triste floated in front of him. Various lights appeared on his body while he pointed to Celestial Tower. "Eh?" he finally spoke. He'd been trying really hard to not make a sound lately; it was a puzzle, but one Colress didn't think worth trying to break. Such puzzles had stumped experts for centuries.

"I said we're going back to your home today," Colress said. "I know I caught you up there. But that isn't where your kind lives, right?"

Triste put his arms up in a manner that made him look afraid of social rejection. Or maybe Colress was reading into it too much. He pointed back up at the top of the tower. Sure, they could go up there. But, that's not what Colress wanted to do today.

"Is it some kind of superstition that makes you keep humans out of this area?" Colress asked, continuing to walk into the woods. "Haven't I told you? Superstition is the enemy of scientific progress. And it's not like it's completely hidden. I've seen the place on satellite photos, read about it in a few travel journals. They don't have much information about it because their memories of the visit go partly or fully missing. But, I have prepared for that possibility." He gave a smile and a wink.

"Huuu," Triste said, sounding a little sad. Then he drifted back to float by Colress' side. He wouldn't lead him to this secretive place, but he wasn't going to try stopping him again.

"Cheer up," Colress said. There was a small bit of his mind that was worried about how Triste was acting lately, but he mostly shut that out so as not to interfere with his logic and studies. He wasn't about to let emotion sway his decisions, any emotion. "Things are going well lately. There's no need to dwell on the past."

Since the Elgyem and their kin didn't walk, there was no footpath to the site they were headed to. But from a GPS in his Xtransceiver, Colress found a way to get through there. Then, there it was. Some large trees spread their branches overhead, but living vines had been hung between them to further obscure what lie here. In the middle of woods, there was this odd metal structure, oddly reminiscent of a small subway station entrance. Although it showed signs of weathering and fading, there was no rust. A lot of paint had come off, but faint impressions of what once had been there remained.

Floating in front of it was a Beheeyem. The Pokemon held a hand up to them, giving them some message in lights. Triste tugged at Colress' sleeve, trying to get him to leave again.

"Good afternoon," Colress said, smiling. "Do you really have trouble with visitors? I come here out of scientific curiosity, one that won't let unknown factors stay unknown."

He remembered little of that afternoon past that point.

* * *

Triste's heart was pounding as he clutched Colress' arm. "I, I'm sorry," the Elgyem said.

"You're not supposed to bring humans here," the Beheeyem stated. His eyes were on Colress, examining him while he tried to get in.

"But I didn't," Triste said. "I thought he was going to take me into the tower again. He found this place on his own."

"Do you trust him?"

A good Pokemon would say yes. He should say yes. "I'm not sure," he said instead. "I want to. He treats me well and I know he came out here partly for my sake. But there's what he says, what else he does, how he treats the others... I don't know about... well I just don't know." Something wasn't right, but even avoiding the language of light, he wasn't sure what to say and what he was supposed to keep secret.

The Beheeyem wasn't impressed. "Trust is something you do or don't have. It's not complicated."

Triste didn't see how it could be that simple. "Well I don't want you to hurt him and I want to help him. Is that enough?"

"We'll see," the Beheeyem said, then drifted aside and let them go in.

Past the entrance, there was a staircase that curled around itself tightly. This led to a small room where the two doors were permanently stuck open. Colress was immediately interested in the design of the door and some vents in the wall. Not recalling them being interesting before, Triste waited to see what he thought. "If these worked, they could seal tight," Colress said quietly, running his hand in the door's groove. "Airlock? There were interesting old stories about the Elgyem."

"They never worked as long as I remembered," Triste said. "It was different for my parents."

The room he called an airlock led to an elevator which did work, bringing them down into the structure that the Elgyem and Beheeyem lived in for many decades. It was said that this place was linked to their origin, although Triste didn't remember details on that story. He'd been born on this planet and the old ways hadn't been interesting to him. At the elevator, he wasn't sure where to bring Colress. Certainly not to the hatching area; they'd not be appreciated near the very young. They might not be appreciated anywhere. But the decision fell out of his hands as the elevator moved them to the floor where the elders liked to stay.

Indeed, one elder met them when they arrived. "Some of us suspected a human would come today," the Beheeyem said. "And you are?"

He put his hands together and bowed his head in respect. "He calls me Triste, sir. He's my Trainer, Colress."

"Seems like advanced science, but old too," Colress was saying, examining the elevator platform.

"He found this place and wouldn't listen to me to stay away," Triste added.

"We're not supposed to let humans remember this place until we have permission from Lord Kyurem," the elder said, going over to Colress.

"Don't hurt him," Triste said, trying to get between them. This got Colress' attention and he looked at them curiously.

"I won't, but he can't remember." The elder then put the human under hypnosis. Triste thought that it might not work, either because of Colress' preparations or because his will was strong. Whatever the plan had been, the hypnosis worked immediately, causing Colress to enter a deep sleep state while standing there. "Follow me."

Colress automatically walked after the elder, so Triste soon followed. "Why? Aren't you going to kick us out?"

"You will know why shortly."

They walked through a hallway to get to the large room where the elders stayed. It had the ceiling and walls curved into one surface, while the floor gradually stepped down in concentric half-rings. All around the room, there were mysterious old devices and chairs. But looking at it now, these things all reminded Triste of inactive computers in a command center. There were eight other Beheeyem in the room, all with faded drier skin of old age.

"And how is this place connected to Kyurem?" Triste asked, full of many other questions too. "Kyurem was in this world far longer than we've been."

The elder stopped, directing Colress silently to sit in a large intact chair at the tallest level of the room. "You will know why in time."

"Is that the man we felt?" another Beheeyem asked, drifting closer. "Shall we prepare the prison cells?"

Triste was alarmed at that suggestion, but the elder with him said, "No, leave this to me. I've worked with humans before and it's not as simple as many of you think."

"It would work better our way," another said.

"No it wouldn't," yet another elder said. "Humans complicate matters, but for the better; that's part of why we were directed to check on this world. It won't do simply to put this leader away. However, the Elgyem here is in a good position to change things."

Triste felt his face get warm in embarrassment. "Huh? How, how much do you know about us?"

"We know what we know," the elder said. "Your mind shows that you've been in contact with Lord Kyurem recently. Can you contact his mind?"

"His mind? Um, about that..." he felt sick with guilt again. In trying to figure out what to do, he had tried again to reach Kyurem's thoughts but ran into the same problem every time. "Coming close to him is cold, but coming close to his mind is like looking into the night sky and being surrounded by it. Only there's nothing, not even stars. He thinks like ripples on a pond, reacting to things but silent stillness prevails."

"Truly nothing?"

He nodded. "Truly nothing."

"One might say that's his true self," another elder said. "And yet it's also not his true self. It is who he is, but not who he is."

"What he is, not who he is; that is more accurate," the elder with Triste said, giving an admonishing look to the other. "Have you seen his true self, Triste?"

"Once, but that was when... before he became nothingness like this," Triste said, starting to get a grasp on this conversation.

The elder began to pace around, tracing his finger-lights through the air to speak. "His true self should still be there, somewhere. You may not have the power to reach him yet; you may need to become a Beheeyem before you can."

"I've been trying to advance," Triste said, speaking in sound and lights for this. "I thought I might if I learned to speak with light; that's part of why we came here, to see if you could help me with it."

He shook his head. "You'll know how to speak with light when you advance, not before. It's certainly not how you will. Just keep learning, keep practicing, keep battling, and you'll make it someday. Hopefully, that someday will be in time. You need to reach Kyurem's true self and to help restore him."

Because he had been partly responsible for this, Triste thought. How much did they know? "I'll do my best. But are you sure he's still there? The nothingness nearly overtook me the first time I tried."

"He'll be there, but not within his conscious mind," the elder said. "The nothingness overtook his self as what was in control of his conscious mind; that's what we've sensed. He does not think, as you've noticed. But in searching his mind, you should find some thoughts somewhere. Those will lead you to Kyurem's self. If he's not returned to control of his mind, something disastrous may overtake us all."

Triste thought about the emblem, but then tried to not think about it around the Beheeyem elders. It was hard. "Is there anything else you can teach me about how to find his self inside his mind?" he asked.

The elder paused in his pacing, in front of Colress. "Yes... rather, I can help you practice. I want you to enter his mind."

"Is that really okay?" he asked, nervous again. Not only was Colress asleep and thus unable to say if he was okay with that, but what would the elder see?

"This is one of the ways we help others, although also a way they can misuse us," the elder said. "And if you're worried about me, I'll only be observing you, specifically your physical and mental state. If I see that you're having problems, I'll pull you out."

He wasn't certain. But then again, it was harder to bluff inside one's own mind. He might find answers that Colress wouldn't reveal on the surface. "All right, I'll look." Triste connected to Colress' mind and the elder instructed him on how to look deeper.

…

It was like peering into a dream with a clear mind. Triste found himself with Colress inside of the lab they worked in when at the Plasma headquarters. While the parts of it near them were clear, details became vague a few feet out. There were many colored computer screens floating around, filled with all kinds of text and information. He glanced at one, but found formulas he couldn't understand.

"For a basic animal, being with humans is an obvious benefit, but they become domesticated and thus often can't survive being back out in the wild," Colress was saying, or rather thinking, in his hypnotized state. "In contrast, few Pokemon become domesticated to the point of lacking wilderness survival and in many of those cases, a high level of pampering or restraint can be pointed to as the cause. Domesticated animals may become milder and weaker in a fight. Pokemon grow stronger, to the point where one can identify a trained Pokemon by how well they battle. Is it because we battle them so much? Or is there something else going on?"

"I've been thinking a lot more than I used to, but it kind of makes me feel worse," Triste said.

Colress looked at him. "What is going on with you?" Immediately, a few of the screens flew between them.

Could he understand here? But he probably wouldn't remember. "Um..." the nervousness nearly paralyzed him, but he clenched his fists and asked, "H-how do you feel about me? Do you really care about me? Or am I just part of your work?"

He put his hand to his cheek and for a moment, he actually looked concerned. But then the screens turned red and larger. Triste could see through them, even read them. 'You can't let personal bias or feelings interfere with scientific data. You shouldn't let them interfere at all. Be detached and observant. Don't let anything sway you from scientific fact. With that, your pathway is clear.' Colress' concern slipped away then, returning to his neutral smile he nearly always had.

"What is this?" Triste asked, poking at one of the screens. It promptly said, 'Do not poke the screen again.'

"Genetic structures among Pokemon can vary greatly," Colress said. "But some things remain constant, the base structure. The base structure differs from the genes in basic animals, insects, birds, and humans. Theoretically, the Pokemon base structure will be the same in immortal Pokemon, and thus the genes of immortals can be observed and altered. Thus the miracles in legends may prove to have scientific explanations that can be replicated."

"I'm not asking about that," Triste said. "What about me?"

For a moment, he seemed surprised. The screens immediately drew closer to him. "The Elgyem and the Beheeyem are said to have come from another planet around fifty years ago," he said. But this time, Triste could feel some distress in him. Colress was using these statements to block that emotion off with the screens. "It is also said that Kyurem appeared in a meteor that caused the Giant Chasm. I've wondered if the two stories were related. Also, if Kyurem fell from the sky, so to speak, what of Reshiram and Zekrom, and the Great Dragon who is said to be their origin? They call each other siblings. And what of humans? Who is native to this world? Some Pokemon? All Pokemon? Humans? Why has history obscured this knowledge?"

"Why are you obscuring me?" Triste said, now attacking the screens with Zen Headbutt. One broke, so he passed through it to come closer. "Why?"

"Are you crying?" Colress asked, holding a hand out to him. The screens drew closer, growing redder. "Or is it something else?"

Triste grabbed his hand. "Why are you like this?"

"I was trained by Dr. Umber in the sciences," he replied, glancing around. It was no longer possible to tell where they were, just that these screens were trying to interfere. "And in more than that. I have to be detached, as he showed me. Or I... I might refuse to follow the studies he gave me."

"Who is Dr. Umber?" He'd never met the man.

Colress closed his eyes and the screens surrounded them. But this time, they were showing a different laboratory. Triste could see an older man watching a younger version of Colress as he was trying to extract DNA from a sample in amber. The teenager had a cut on his arm that was slowly healing up. "Umber thought he was a great man of science, and he did make some amazing discoveries. But despite his constant lesson of neutrality and detached observation, he was not unbiased. His alcoholism slowed much of his work down and some of his studies were too interested in what caused pain in others. He was a strict teacher, asking more out of me and his few assistants than he seemed to do himself."

"Hey, get back to work!" a cruel voice shouted. "I didn't give you time to socialize."

"There were some years when I never left his laboratory," Colress said, his voice growing quiet.

"Well why did you listen to him?"

The screens changed again, this time showing Colress even younger, just a boy of twelve years. He was standing by an empty table, talking to Umber. The older scientist seemed interested. "You certainly had an interesting project, one I wouldn't expect to see at a school science fair."

"The teacher said to pick a project from one of the books, but I wanted to try this one," Colress said, looking into the crowd of people. On one of the smaller screens, a few lines flitted by. 'Where are they? Mom and Dad said they'd be here early. We just live a couple of blocks away. Why aren't they here yet?'

"Then why don't you have a display?" Umber said, with concern. One of the screens wondered if it was false, but that line didn't last long.

The boy looked down, leaning back on the table. "I did have one. But, some bullies attacked me while I was bringing it over and ruined it. I don't have a Pokemon friend, so I couldn't stop them. I'll still get credit for the project because my teacher likes my paper and the experiment, but the display was wrecked this afternoon and I couldn't enter the show without it." He was upset about it, but tried to keep from showing it in public.

"Excuse me, Colress?" one of the school staff came over with a policeman. "I'm sorry, we have some bad news for you..."

The screens became a jumble of images after that. The current Colress shuddered. Clasping his hand tighter, Triste tried to find the important information there. At the time of that science fair, there was a road between his home and his school. Even with safety lights and warning signs, it was a dangerous crossing. His parents had been struck by a car on that road. And only a few hours after he met him, Dr. Umber offered to take Colress in as a student and assistant, even though his parents had just died. Colress agreed and was soon being instructed to shut out his feelings, especially that sorrow, in order to focus on scientific studies. Umber pretended to be kind and would not let him mourn.

Then the screens turned red and Colress calmed down enough to speak again. "Umber is dead. I let him be killed because he was no longer useful. His short-comings overcame any potential he had to still make discoveries. But that was logical. To get the support I wanted for my work, I needed a connection that he was wasting. He was no longer useful to Ghetsis. On the other hand, I know how to keep myself useful and I have nothing like alcohol or sadism to distract me. Nothing will distract me from finding the scientific truths I seek."

"But what about the truth I want?" Triste asked. "How do you feel about me? Can I trust you?"

Colress opened his eyes and looked at him. "You're part of an experiment I'm conducting. I can't let personal bias sway my observations." He almost continued, but stopped.

"That's what the screens tell you to think, is that it?" Triste said, not wanting to accept that. If there was some potential bias, then he had to feel some connection.

"The human brain favors socializing and rewards the effort. But... does that change how I feel? Does it authenticate or falsify emotions? I should observe it in others rather than try to identify it within myself. Less bias. And how would I reduce bias further?"

"I am betraying so many for nothing?" Triste asked, feeling flushed with shame. He didn't want it to be. He had felt so strongly about Colress before, but as he kept thinking about it, things didn't seem right. Colress was careful in how he treated everyone, playing them to the parts he wanted. Was he doing the same thing to him?

Then he noticed something strange on one of the screens: his name, flashing. Once he looked at it, it added more text. 'I do feel happier when Triste is nearby when I'm working. I just talk to him, he responds, and I feel like someone cares about me. But I try not to notice. I've practiced neutrality for so long that I usually don't. I think he sticks around me because that's what he wants. I hope so, since all he requires is my presence and attention to be happy. He's not like the others I have to be careful of, me using them, them using me.'

'I've been worried about him lately because his behaviors have changed. He's not as enthusiastic in chatting with me, even considering that he tries to use his finger lights instead. Every other thought blocks that out with a reminder to keep focused. But I wonder if a small experiment will make that change. If a time should come when he starts off with something to make me smile, then disappears once I focus on work... how would that make me feel? Would it be enough to notice? I remember N referring to his Pokemon team as his friends as if that was a basic assumption, and for a moment feeling like I wanted that. Would this experiment show clearly to me that I want to acknowledge a friendship with Triste?'

'In theory, I would see it, but it is difficult to gauge how effective it will be.'

Meanwhile, Colress himself was back to reducing his study of Pokemon training to detached observations, projected results, and the set-up for the final demonstration. "I think I see it," Triste said, feeling calmer, even hopeful. "What I see in you is your conscious, if dreaming, mind. What I see in those screens is your subconscious thought processes, maybe even your memory. It'll be harder in K... the dragon, since the division won't be as clear and what thoughts he would have would be drowned out by nothingness."

Colress wasn't saying anything useful now, but the screens were departing, revealing the normal dream space again. Triste decided to disconnect from his mind and see about leaving.

…

Later that day, Triste watched as Colress uploaded a video onto a computer. "As I thought, I don't recall what we did today," he said. "But I do remember finding the place. Bits of thought want me to believe that it wasn't very interesting. Yet the fact that they can modify memories and implant little thoughts like that is intriguing, thus I really want to know." He looked up at Triste.

"I hope you don't ask me to do that after I evolve," the Elgyem said. But if he didn't find a way to appeal to Colress' better side (which he was sure was in there somewhere), it might happen.

The video finished transferring from the tiny camera that Colress had been wearing. It showed the airlock structure, the elevator, the Beheeyem elder leading them to the place like a command room, then a discussion between the Pokemon. Of course, Colress couldn't know what they were saying. And for a good chunk of the video, nothing much occurred as he had been hypnotized and told to sit still.

"What can you do with a video like that?" Triste asked, although he felt certain he could pick apart a lot of things just based on the visuals and what little sound there was.

"It's likely to be a buried spaceship," Colress said, looking at the elders' room. "Possibly not any good to fly anymore, but an investigation could assist our efforts at space travel. And then..." he briefly frowned before rewinding the video. He ended up stopping at the part when Triste had tried to stop the elder from hypnotizing him, replaying that part a couple of times. "What were you doing? I have this feeling I was talking to you at one point. No, talking with you. It's not all that clear, like trying to remember a dream. Was it part of their memory modification? I feel like it was real, but I have no proof, not even on this tape."

"It was," Triste said. "I'll be trying that experiment sometime when you're working here."

"Must not be important," Colress said, although with some reluctance. Triste hovered by him, being the observer now. He'd wait for the right time.


	36. Weak Points

June 27

Nuvema Town

As it turned out, Professor Juniper was busy, but she let them stay over at her lab for the night and got her father to come visit for a while. According to him, the Splicer was in Drayden's care. It seemed very unlikely that Drayden would let a powerful artifact get stolen easily, especially once Cedric Juniper agreed to pass on word that the new Plasma group was interested in it. So it didn't seem like something to worry about for the time being.

The next day, Nate, Rosa, and Curtis decided to take a couple of weeks to walk back to Driftveil. They could battle Trainers along the way, check out what Pokemon were around this area of Unova, and see what people in this area might know about the various events going on. And the first interesting thing happened shortly after they arrived in Striaton when Rosa spotted a man with blue hair. "Hey, isn't that Cress?" she asked, pointing him out of the crowd. "He used to be the Water Gym Leader in Unova. Sort of."

"Sort of?" Nate asked.

"Yeah, because the gym wasn't entirely water based," Curtis said. "He worked with his two brothers to make a Water, Grass, and Fire type Gym in one building. They were said to be a really tough set no matter which one you got, a stumbling point to many League Trainers. But then they decided to focus on the restaurant end of their venture, with battles on the side."

Nate seemed thoughtful. "They were tough leaders, huh? Could be interesting to challenge them..."

"I thought Cress was really cool as a Leader," Rosa said. "Let's go say hi to him." And since neither of the other two had objections to that, they went over and introduced themselves.

Cress was happy to talk with them for a bit; he was watering an herb garden beside the restaurant. "Most restaurants don't mind buying herbs from reputable growers, but for the three of us, we simply couldn't work with some that we didn't grow ourselves. It's a matter of pride as cooks. Well you three certainly have quite a crowd of happy Pokemon with you. One of you trying to be a Water Trainer?"

"I am, mostly," Rosa said. "All but my Lucario are Water Pokemon, but River's been with me long enough that I'm not sure about putting her on a bench to focus on a monotype team."

Cress nodded. "No shame in doing that. You know, somehow I had the feeling that it was you. Can't say why, though."

"I could understand Psychic enthusiasts knowing each other right off," Curtis said. "Water's different, though. There's all kinds of Water Pokemon, and Trainers who work with them."

"Yes, but I still had a feeling about it," Cress said. "I've met the man who's running the current Water Gym and he's quite different from me. Not bad, although we have distinctly different training and work philosophies. Are you three with the League? We don't have an active Gym, but we're still willing to give League hopefuls a challenge."

"I'm not, but these two are," Curtis said.

"Yeah, I was hoping to get a battle with you three," Nate said. "I don't know about Rosa."

She blushed a little. "Well, I don't know... I was trying to follow the League challenge, but I don't know how much further I can get. The next two gyms that we've been around would be Elesa's and Clay's. Clay might not be so bad, but I don't know if I could manage Elesa unless I got River a lot stronger."

"I wouldn't discount Clay so quickly," Cress said. "He says he focuses on Ground Pokemon, but he also likes Steel Pokemon and he's been known to run some Grass Ground Pokemon, or Grass moves, in with his team."

"Yeah, that would make it harder," Rosa said, sound dispirited.

"Oh, I didn't mean to discourage you," Cress said quickly. "In fact, I'm absolutely confident that a Water type Trainer could win the League challenge, even with a mono team."

"Even with Elesa running a Gym?" she asked.

Cress nodded. "Yes, even with her around; I'd almost say that getting the wrong team on Clay would make that battle harder than taking on Elesa with Water Pokemon. You just have to know your types very well."

"But water types are weak to electric moves," Rosa said.

"I think he means to consider secondary types as a means to counter Electrics," Nate said.

She thought about it. "But having the weakness would only be canceled out if I found Pokemon whose secondary type was resistant to Electric moves. It could work, but still risky..."

"Then you'd have to find something stronger than a mere resistance," Cress said.

When Rosa still looked puzzled, Nate put his hand on his forehead and said, "Remember when I fought her?"

She nodded. "Yeah, because you totally shut her out by using Signet until her Pokemon didn't have any moves good against a Ghost type... no wait, that was because he's a Ground type too, so the Electric moves did nothing. Hey, then all I'd have to do is find a Water Ground Pokemon and then Electric moves wouldn't do anything to it! Why didn't I think of that sooner?" The others were laughing, but she smiled. A moment of embarrassment was okay if this did finally give her a way to get a badge from Elesa. "I'll have to check my Pokedex to find one, then figure out where to get it."

Cress pointed to the southwest. "Actually, if you head out on the route that way, past the next town over, you'll find a marshy area. That's the closest area from here to find that kind of Pokemon. You still have to train it up because she's good at covering her type's weaknesses too, but that's the kind of Pokemon you'd want to get past her."

"All right, thanks you so much for the help, Cress," Rosa said, beaming.

"It's no trouble," he said, smiling back. "Good luck."

* * *

July 1

outside Nacrene

For a few days, they stayed in Nacrene. Nate spent much of his time in the town itself, taking on other Pokemon Trainers and deciding which of his Pokemon he wanted to focus on for the tournament next month. Meanwhile, Rosa and Curtis explored the marshy area outside of Pinwheel Forest, seeing what Pokemon were there. "Did you want to go look for Virizion?" Curtis asked her one afternoon. "He's supposed to be around the woods somewhere."

"Maybe," Rosa said, sitting on a rock where she was watching some Pokemon in the shallow muddy waters nearby. "I don't think I'd be as nervous as I used to be around Grass Pokemon." She frowned. "Of course, that's partly because Cathy keeps sneaking into my room at night and goes to sleep at the foot of the bed."

He put his hand over his mouth, trying not to laugh. "Oh yeah. You did scream pretty bad the first time."

"A Petlil in your face is not a nice way to wake up," Rosa said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Even if she does smell nice."

"She really likes you, though." He took off his hat and rubbed his hair.

"That dye job looks really out of whack now," she said. Over time, the purple had faded into a mucky brown, while bright yellow peeked through at his scalp.

"Yeah, but I don't know if I want to treat the roots or try to wash it out entirely," Curtis said.

"There you are," someone called. They looked over to see N and Zekrom walking at the side of the marshy patch of ground. "Did you get to talk with the Junipers?"

"Hi N, Zekrom!" Rosa said, soon echoed by Curtis. "Yeah, we did. Drayden has the artifact and he knows about what's going on now. It should be fine for now."

"His family has been reliable," Zekrom said, not as upset now but still not happy.

"I only met him when I challenged him, but I think he's trustworthy," N said. "Enough people and Pokemon do. Where's Nate?"

Rosa shrugged. "Somewhere in town. Did you need to talk with him?"

N shifted his hat. "Not necessarily. I just came to exchange news on our investigations. The four of us are focusing on the coastline and the river now."

"You know where Kyurem is?" Curtis asked.

"Not sure, but we think he's on a ship," Zekrom said.

N nodded. "According to the weather records, there have been dips in temperature, especially since late May, about the time Zekrom, Reshiram, and you all felt the balance of power change in Unova. And it's mostly been around the coastline: Castelia's port, Driftveil, Undella, Humilau, all of these places had unusually cold days and the progression of that shift can be followed through most of the days. There are also reports of unusual levels of fog and mist along with the cold. Which is another sign that it could be Kyurem: his sharp concentration of low temperatures meeting with warm waters would cause condensation to form in the air around the ship he's being held on. So we need to look into shipping records, which isn't as easy as the weather."

"Castelia would be the place to do that, where the Coast Guard has their offices," Curtis said.

"Hilbert's been tying to contact them, among other research he's doing," N said.

Rosa thought of something, which she didn't like but felt should be said. "Hey, so... you're looking for a fairly large ship that could hold Kyurem then? One that would likely have mist forming around it?"

"Yes, that's right," N said.

"I wonder if it has anything to do with that frigate I keep seeing around," she said, flipping open her Xtransceiver. As she thought, a picture she had taken of it in Castelia's port was currently the background. She got off the rock to show it to N. "It looks old, but when you see it from higher ground, like the docking area of Castelia, it has a deck that looks more modern, like it's a replica. While a true old frigate might not be able to handle the cold and weight of Kyurem, a modern replica that was designed properly could, and this one is certainly big enough. Plus, every time I can remember seeing it, there was some kind of mist or fog around, and no matter what I try to say to the staff, they won't let me on board to look around."

"Hey yeah, we did see it in Undella's bay on that foggy day," Curtis said. "Although, it tends to be foggy there many days of the year. Still, it might be."

"There was a mist like that in the sewers when we got back home and were looking for him there," Zekrom said. "And that would have been close to the docks."

"I do recall seeing this ship on that day," N said. "A modern shipping vessel could be more suitable to hiding someone, because it would blend in with the rest. But then, he does like being dramatic, so this replica would fit."

"At least it shouldn't be hard to pick out," Rosa said.

He nodded. "Right. Then what are you doing out here? I wanted to find you, but I also heard there might be one of the Plasma meeting locations around Nacrene's old warehouses."

"We were traveling, but then we stopped here so Rosa could find a particular Pokemon," Curtis said.

"Yeah!" she said, feeling excited again. "I'd like to get a Water Ground Pokemon, so I can better take on Elesa and any other battles against Electric Pokemon. I've been watching these Tympoles like Nate does when he wants a Pokemon to keep for training, although I'm not entirely sure what he looks for. It'll grow into a secondary Ground typing, which is perfect because I could train it in the desert near Route 4 until then."

"Right, that would help," N said, although he seemed a bit down saying that. "A Tympole would be a good choice for you."

"Is something wrong with that?" Rosa said. "You don't sound too happy for some reason."

He shook his head and raised his hands. "No, it's not bad. It's just... I trained a Tympole for a short while too and that just reminded me of it." N sighed. "Lucky wasn't too sure about humans when I found him. By the time I let him go, because that's what I was doing at the time, he was really upset to leave me. I did find him again, but... well, I hope you find a good friend in a Tympole too. If you want, I could show you an area around here where there should be higher level Pokemon to start with."

"That could help," Rosa started to say. She felt a little bad since something about his old Pokemon friend seemed to upset N still, but he was suggesting it. And then they were interrupted again.

"Ah-ha, I have found you!" someone called, running from a hill to the east towards them. The man was dressed like he should be a detective: brown trenchcoat, matching fedora, a metallic badge pinned to his coat. And it wasn't just any badge: it was for the Global Police Force, with a holographic panel that was to prove authenticity.

N was startled, taking a step back. "Wait, you mean...?"

"Hmm?" The apparent detective looked at N, as if just now noticing him. "Oh. Right. I apologize deeply, Mr... well, sir. But I was instructed by a certain young lady to ignore you not just as a suspect, but entirely, and I have found no evidence that I should be investigating you despite that. So I'll just be ignoring you, no fault of your own." Then he turned to Curtis. "There you are, Christoph. No, don't try to deny it. My skills will prove your true identity."

Curtis brought his hat up to his chest. "What... who are you?"

"Yeah, and what do you want with Curtis?" Rosa asked, not liking him.

The man took off his hat and gave a bow. "I am Looker, detective extraordinaire of the Global Police. I was instructed to take on a search for the runaway star Christoph, and thus I have found you. You didn't make it easy, no, what with traveling around the region so much. But not even your rudimentary disguise techniques can hide you from my detecting experience."

Curtis rubbed his hair. "I really should've have gotten a professional hair dye, right? Fine, I am Christoph. But I'm not going back. I left for a reason and I won't return until I'm satisfied. So tell the studio that."

"It wasn't the studio or your manager who sent me," Looker said, putting his hat back on.

Puzzled, he asked, "My parents, then?"

He shook his head. "No. I was sent by the Castelia police to find you before your parents did. Otherwise, they wouldn't have involved someone as highly ranking as myself in the search, even if you are globally famous. And, I really do need to take you in to the police. No, don't worry, you aren't being suspected of a crime. We're taking you in for your own protection."

"Why does he need to be protected?" Rosa asked, looking at Curtis. He seemed a little pale now; maybe he knew something.

"I couldn't really say here and now, sorry," Looker said.

"N-no, it's okay to let them know," Curtis said, looking down. "They're my friends and I'd rather them know."

"Hmm," Looker looked at them (although not directly at N, since he was still ignoring him), then nodded. "If it's what you want. Christoph, one of the first things the Castelia police did once you were reported missing was check into your bank, where they found the papers you had left for them. That started an investigation into your parents and your studio manager, which quickly took a dark turn. They were taking income that rightfully should have stayed with you, and they were setting you up to be killed."

"I knew they were taking money from me," Curtis said. "I wanted to be free of that, and their control. They did many suspicious things, but I didn't think they were seriously out to kill me."

"It is a terrible thing, but they were already working at it," Looker said. "First they were going to stage an accident at a party, but once you took the unusual route of showing rebellion through not drinking, they settled on poisoning your meals. Really, you ran away in the nick of time. But now we've lost track of your parents and the manager, so I need to take you into protective custody until your birthday, at which point you'd still need to be careful, but that would take out their main motive against you."

"You'd better go then," Rosa said, then hugged him. She'd heard him complain about how much of a control freak his manager was, dictating everything from his meals to who he could be friends with, but they hadn't suspected how much worse his parents would turn out to be. Hopefully she could still call him; although he needed the protection, she wanted to reassure him with some familiarity. "I'll miss you, but it's better that you'll be safe."

"I'll miss you guys too," Curtis said, patting her back. "I was hoping I could at least be around to see Nate in the tournament."

"Ark!" Next to them, River was looking up at them. She poked Curtis again.

"I'll miss you Pokemon too," Curtis said.

"She said that she wants to go with you," N said.

Rosa brightened, saying, "Oh yeah, if you had River with you, then you'd have a Pokemon that was definitely good for a battle. Hey, Looker, will he be able to keep his Pokemon?"

The detective nodded. "Of course, we wouldn't dream of taking them away. And a person's Pokemon can be their best defense, so it's really nonsense if we're taking him under protection."

That made Curtis feel relieved. "Okay. I'll take good care of River, I promise."

"I'm sure," Rosa said, taking the Lucario's Pokeball and setting it so she could gift it to Curtis. "Thanks, River; I'll miss having you around too."

River gripped her hand and nodded, to which N translated, "She knows it's your wishes that he be well-protected, and that this should be best for both of you."

"Oh, right," Looker said, putting a hand on his chin. "Well I'm still ignoring a certain someone so, young lady?"

"Yes, what?" Rosa asked.

"I need to tell you something rather serious," he said. "Aside from what's going on with Christoph. I have other investigations I'm carrying out in Unova at this time, and for one of them, I got word that just this morning, Ghetsis was seen in the vicinity of Opelucid by the Gym Leader Drayden. Drayden was unable to apprehend him at the time, but the former Plasma sage is suspected to still be in that area. Due to certain reasons that you may or may not know, the Leader told me that he hopes that neither of the two Kings, nor the dragons with them, were around Opelucid today."

"Wait, there?" N asked, concerned. "They could be there, or Icirrus, they had things to do in both places."

"The police are keeping a watch over the town and surrounding countryside," Looker said. "But if you have a way to get in contact with those two young men, you probably should warn them."

"All right, we'll do that," Rosa said. Then Looker left with Curtis, heading back towards Nacrene. When she turned, N was already on his Xtransceiver. "Is Hilbert going to be all right?"

"It depends on if Ghetsis is on his own or with the Triad," N said. "And the latter's more likely. He's not picking up yet. Zekrom, what do you feel from Reshiram?"

"They're in trouble," she said, sounding fretful and looking down at the ground. "I should go help them, but..."

"You're at risk of being captured too," Rosa said. "Wait, I'll call Nate. He can fly there with Rune if Rune knows where to go."

"He should know where Opelucid is, and be able to help track them down," N said. "Do that... please."

* * *

Tubeline Bridge

Hilbert and Reshiram were walking through the bridge, getting to where they could reach Iccirrus on foot. "I heard that rock slides have made Twist Mountain too dangerous to go through," Hilbert said. "I guess that would make Icirrus quieter than usual."

"We didn't really spend much time here last we went to the tower," Reshiram said.

"Are you doing well?" he asked, looking at his companion. He was pushing himself a lot lately, insisting on training even when his Pokeball stats suggested that he should be getting tired. Even on days like this where they were mostly researching and trying to find people who might know helpful information, he didn't want to take a break to rest from walking or interviewing.

"I'm fine," Reshiram said.

"That's a lie," a woman said, appearing where she hadn't been seconds before, a few paces ahead of them. The fabric of her black uniform rippled as a train passed under them on the other portion of the bridge. "Isn't it?"

"You..." Reshiram growled, tensing up and preparing for a fight.

"What do you want with us?" Hilbert said, although he was already thinking of how to get out of here.

Then a second member of the Triad, the other woman, appeared near her associate. "You haven't been honest with how recent events have been affecting you," she said, in an inappropriate calmness. "We know. We've been watching."

Recalling how they had managed to render Kyurem ineffective, through words questioning his integrity towards what his power was, Hilbert decided to take Reshiram's arm and pull him back. "You're more than just a symbol," he said.

"Is it more important for you to be a person, or a symbol? You're a symbol to undergird the stability of power in the world; is it more important to pursue your individuality, or to keep that stability for the sake of the people?"

"I've been able to do both before," Reshiram said, getting angry. "Besides, you've undermined our stability and messed with our family. I won't let you get away with that." Then he caused a burst of flames to erupt from underneath the two women. They weren't entirely human, though, so while it hurt them, it didn't stop the Triad.

Hilbert then had a strong feeling that he knew where their third member was; behind them, ready to attack him, not Reshiram. Both he and the Triad were gijinkas, Hilbert being Dark, and he knew the male of the Shadow Triad was a Bug type, so this was probably more as a blow to Reshiram's stability than actually being against him. But Hilbert was the White King; he wasn't going to let them do what they wanted with his partner, at least not without doing everything he could against them. He caught the Triad's intent and turned his own power against him, turning at the right moment to grab him and flip him forward to where the other two were. It probably didn't do much more than stop the attack... but it did put him in sight of Reshiram.

"The Ghost one didn't get her hair burnt in my attack," Reshiram stated quietly to him, just before he became enveloped in a light that returned him to his dragon form.

"Gotcha," Hilbert said. He knew he wasn't as skilled as these three, so they'd have to take any advantage they could get. The Ghost member of the Triad had vanished, but he kept his detection sense alert in order to catch her when he could. And by his side, Reshiram roared as he sent off his next attack.

Then Hilbert began to get a bad feeling. While looking around, he spotted a man in the distance, one with green hair and a gray cloak. Then another dragon's roar filled the air, the call of a mad Hydreigon that had taken out Reshiram once before. On stepping closer to Reshiram (to avoid being attacked from behind as easily), Hilbert began releasing his other Pokemon to join the fray. This was not going to be easy... but they weren't going to make it easy on them either.

* * *

Neo Plasma Headquarters

"Sir?" The Plasma woman knocked on the door frame of the office.

"I said, in a minute," Colress said, his eyes on the screen in front of him. He was nearly done reading through this battle journal of one of the non-Plasma affiliates in the mineral drink boosts group. Whatever it was probably could wait.

"You said that five minutes ago."

He read over the last line and then, in annoyance because he wanted to take notes and fill in the comparison chart, he turned to her. "What is it?"

"Sorry, but we need you to check over the Shadow Triad," she said. "The regular doctor on board is not sure what to do, but he says that you know more about them."

"Well their genetic makeup is unique... wait, the doctor sent you to me?" Colress got up. This could be interesting.

She nodded. "Yes, sir. They got into a fight with the White King and Reshiram, and got injured pretty badly."

Okay, maybe he should have paid attention the first time. If they had already gotten Reshiram... "I see. What happened?" He glanced around, then realized that Triste was missing. Where was that Elgyem? He was usually hanging around Colress while he was at work; he knew Triste had been there at least an hour ago, when he had been chatty and trying to get him to play. But although it worried him, there was what could be going on and he had to slow it down. It was too soon for when he wanted to move, by at least a month. He walked out of the lab office and headed towards the room the Triad tended to stay in, near Ghetsis' office.

The woman had to hurry to keep up with him. "Uh, well I didn't get the full story, but it seems they encountered each other and the Triad tried to get Reshiram as well, to increase the power and authority we hold. From what I heard, both sides got wrecked up badly and they didn't take the dragon. We might be able to sneak in and get Reshiram without the Triad at this point, though."

Good, it wasn't quite at the brink of trouble. He shook his head. "No. If the Triad went to the point of fighting the White King, then the public is going to find out that they're around and the League will do everything they can to keep Reshiram protected. Probably Zekrom too, which may reveal that they can't find Kyurem. They did have a chance, but it's passed us and we're going to have to be more cunning next time."

Both sides must be injured. He'd have to check into reports to see how Hilbert and Reshiram fared. And now the Shadow Triad would be injured, when they were one of Neo Plasma's vital assets. Getting them healed up could be troublesome. They were unusual gijinkas, almost of an entirely different category from all other beings. He'd have to advise some mixture of human and Pokemon medication and hope it worked. Even if he knew the most, he didn't know as much as their creator, who was dead and thus unable to say what methods worked and what didn't. Still, Colress was the best expert on hand to deal with them.

He was going to move to the area the Triad would be, but then he finally spotted Triste: in with Kyurem somehow, hovering rather close to him. That derailed his current line of thought. "Shoot... I'll be with them in a moment."

"Sir? We need you,"

"I know, just," he moved to the other transferal point, "if they're still bleeding, spray a Pokemon's Hyper Potion on the wound and bind it tightly; make sure it's Hyper, because they react differently to Max. If it's any status, Full Heal and not any single-condition remedies. I won't be long." Then he moved into Kyurem's chamber. "Triste, I hope you're not causing trouble."

As usual, Kyurem didn't react. The dragon seemed to be asleep, although readings Colress had taken made him doubt it was a true sleep state (it was an inactivity on top of his already reactionary-thought-only state). Triste was hovering only inches from the back of Kyurem's neck, his glows softer than normal. And he didn't react either, not until Colress got hold of him.

"What are you doing?" Colress asked, pulling Triste close to him. He could feel the coldness through his coat and shirt. "Your core temperature must have dropped; you'll freeze yourself like this. Come out of here."

"Nhhmm hmm," Triste replied, shivering now. He reached up, touching his chin. "Co'ess."

While he walked back out of the chamber, he patted the Elgyem's hand away. "Don't worry me like that. I just got word that I need to tend to the Shadow Triad, who managed to get beat up for once, and now you're distracting me. We could get into a lot of trouble with Ghetsis for this."

Triste murmured again, but clung close to him and for some reason gave Colress the impression that he was happy. Pokemon were strange creatures that could do some ridiculous things, he thought. But, humans were the same way many times. For instance, he felt relieved that he'd found Triste before he'd actually touched Kyurem and got severe frostbite, when he should be mad at the Pokemon getting into trouble like that.

However, he couldn't let emotions like that rule him. Once in the Shadow Triad's room, he got Triste under a blanket to rest and warm up before checking on the Triad to see what could be done for them. The male of the group was severely burned, to the point where the regular doctor had put an apparatus on him to help him breathe; that could stay, though he did need to be hit with a Full Heal or the burns wouldn't get any better. The Ghost female had come in conscious, but was now unconscious and suffering from a burn and an injury that must have come from a Dark attack. The latter was an interesting sign, as Colress had been told that Hilbert would have no attacking moves. If the attack had come from him, then he and his brother would be able to learn moves outside of the movesets that had been planned for them. The last of the Triad, the Poison female, was burned but not in too bad of a shape, the condition of her siblings considered. Still, even Triste in his near frozen condition was better off than her.

Yet he kept finding himself glancing back at the Elgyem while helping the doctor get the Triad into better conditions. It shouldn't be so distracting. Maybe he was just affected by how much he'd been working lately. That made sense, so he kept in mind to take a day off to unwind sometime soon while he got the rest of the day's tasks completed.

* * *

When Nate arrived in Opelucid, he consulted Rune, who led him to Route 9. There were police cars parked on the other end of the short road, causing some grumbling by the gathering of bikers nearby. At a multistory shopping mall nearby, there were people peering at the scene, but not going over. "What's going on?" he asked the cop who was blocking the way to the bridge.

"Sorry, we're conducting an investigation into a rather severe battle that took place here," the officer said. "Also, are you on your own?"

"I've got my Pokemon with me," Nate said, glancing at Rune. The Sigilyph had flown a bit past the cop, checking things out.

"That's good, but you probably should get back into town or in the mall over there around other people. We've been tracking a dangerous criminal in this area."

Shifting uneasily, Nate asked, "Is this about Ghetsis? I came looking for Hilbert."

"I'm sorry, I can't say anything at the moment. Please leave this area be for now."

"All right," Nate said, waving for Rune to come back to him. "Well now what? Get a good idea of what's going on?"

Rune cooed and a few images flashed through Nate's mind. The Shadow Triad attempting to demoralize Reshiram like they had Kyurem. Two helicopters leaving the scene. One of the cops handing over a Pokeball to a large muscular old man with an impressive white mustache. After asking Rune to show him the last one again, Nate decided to see if he could meet with Drayden at the Gym here. It would only take a few minutes to get there.

While he had seen a couple of impressive Gyms on his journey, seeing the Dragon Gym in person left Nate in a bit of awe. There was a huge structure of a dragon four stories tall, seemingly hovering in the space of this tall gym. Not only that, but the statue was moving, apparently in response to a platform in front of it that was descending to ground level. There was a man sitting at a counter by the door. "Hey, good to see you, but I'm afraid that the Gym is temporarily closed," he said. "Something came up and Drayden isn't available right now."

"Is he here, though?" Nate said. "Something important has come up and I'd like to speak with him."

The man shook his head. "I'm sorry, but he said no meetings today. It was an emergency."

"I think we're talking about the same emergency."

At that moment, a girl not much younger than him came running through the door. She just waved at the attendant, heading for the moving platform, but then stopped on seeing him. "Hey wait, are you Nate?" she asked. "It's been a long time since I saw you."

"It has?" he asked, puzzled.

"I'm Iris," she said, smiling, but looking at Rune for a moment. "I met you briefly months ago, when we were getting Cheren lined up to be a Gym Leader, but I've been hearing a lot about you lately. So you want to see Drayden, huh? Well, could I see your Sigilyph's Pokeball?"

"Sure," he said, taking it out of the slot to hand it to her. He had an idea what she was looking for; hopefully it helped convince them to let him in.

"Oh, I thought so," Iris said, then handed the ball back. "Is he lending Rune to you?"

He shook his head. "No, I'm using Rune in my team at the moment. But I did come over here on his behalf."

"Who is this?" the man at the desk asked.

Iris shook her head. "Don't worry about it." Then she looked up at Nate. "I think you should come in back with me." Then she went back to the platform, waiting for Nate to get on before giving it instructions to move around to the back of the dragon statue to the back area of the gym.

"We weren't able to make contact with Hilbert, but through one thing or another, we figured that I'd better come up here instead of N," Nate said as they arrived. "Do you know what happened?"

"Oh yeah, grandpa called me in to get here in a hurry to help him out," Iris said. "Hilbert's in the hospital. Apparently he and Reshiram got into a fight with the Shadow Triad, and then Ghetsis with his Pokemon showed up too."

"And the police gave Drayden Reshiram because he was injured?" Nate asked.

"Wow, you're good," Iris said, nodding. "Yeah, that's right. After we got word from the Junipers that Plasma might want the Splicer, grandpa must have insisted on taking in Reshiram, since his gym is a more secure place than a regular Pokecenter. They're up a level."

The back of the gym resembled a rocky mountainside more than a building, even the cave-like offices. There was a variety of Dragon Pokemon throughout this room, but several were hanging out near the third story platform, where Reshiram was curled up in a corner in his dragon form. His white fur was matted in places by blood and the fiery light around his tail wasn't as strong as Nate had seen before. And the man that Rune had picked up on was standing near him, trying to do some cleaning of the legendary dragon after patching up the worst of his wounds.

"Grandpa, Nate here came by to check up on Reshiram for N and Zekrom," Iris said, leading him over.

"Where are they?" Drayden asked immediately, pausing in his work. Reshiram even partly opened his eyes, half-asleep but alert to the names.

"I left them with my friend Rosa in Nacrene," Nate said. "They'd been found by some detective named Looker, who told them Ghetsis had been seen up here. Then N tried to call Hilbert and didn't get a response. When I left, they were going back to the hotel we've been staying at."

"Nacrene's safe enough, although I'd rather they be elsewhere," Drayden said. Reshiram grumbled softly, making Drayden put a hand on his side. "How is Zekrom dealing with it?"

"She was quite distraught, since she knew they were in trouble," Nate said. "N was doing his best to console her, although I know he's worried about his brother as well."

Drayden rubbed his chin. "Hmm. Let them know that they can come tomorrow morning, after sunrise. I'll have Iris wait by the Pokecenter, so they should fly directly there. Six o'clock should be suitable."

Nate nodded. "All right, I'll tell them." With that assurance, Reshiram closed his eyes again.

"Hilbert was taken out in bad shape, so I don't have any news on his condition, other than it's bad," Drayden said. "Hopefully I can tell them something more in the morning. In a somewhat fortunate way, the only one who got out of that battle in any decent shape was Ghetsis. I don't like that he got away again, but we won't need to worry about the Shadow Triad interfering for a little while. That should cut down on the danger this new form of Plasma presents, although we still must be careful around them."


	37. Mandatory Tournament Rule

August

For the next few weeks, things were pretty quiet from Team Plasma again. Sightings of their black-clad members were getting scarce again. Somewhat worrisome, the replica frigate that was suspected of holding Kyurem was not seen at all during those weeks. The weather institute reported no unusual cold or foggy spots, and what ships the coast guard searched had no evidence of holding the dragon, or any stolen or missing Pokemon. The summer was cooler overall than average, but there were still hot days and nothing that indicated unusual activity from Kyurem.

Reshiram recovered before long, but was kept in Drayden's Gym because Hilbert had fallen into a coma. The Opelucid hospital did what they could, but something the Triad had done to him in the fight kept him from fully recovering. In the meantime, N and Zekrom decided to hide out in the wilderness. With N's talent with befriending and understanding Pokemon, it was easy for him to build up a network of wild Pokemon willing to keep an eye out and send warning if trouble came around them.

Although not much new came out from Curtis, the news about the trouble he was in broke out online. The police were still looking for his parents and manager, while the rest of the studio was busy trying to save their image and reputation from the scandal. Curtis released a couple of public statements to his fans as Christoph, mostly that he would be making less public appearances than before but that he was going to get back into recording music sometime in the future. And he was allowed to call Rosa again, albeit at certain times so that they could be sure of the security of the connection.

They saw more of Hugh, as he was also training around Driftveil for the tournament. He had lost his leads into the new Plasma, and somewhat surprisingly, started talking civilly with the old members of Plasma. Once he learned of the weather evidence, he too started observing ships that passed through.

Meanwhile, Rosa and Nate continued training their Pokemon. Rosa was working mostly on her new Palpitoad Elda along with her Lanturn Chuchu, to get them to a level where they could readily handle Elesa's fourth badge challenge. On the other hand, Nate had gotten his team to even levels, so he was still working on all of them, saying that he would decide when the tournament itself came.

The days passed, and sooner than they thought, the day of the tournament was next.

* * *

August 17

Driftviel was packed with people that weekend. Even with the number of hotels there, every room had been filled and people were being sent to hotels over in Nimbasa, or even Castelia. Fortunately, Nate had been given two passes to free guaranteed rooms over the event, so he had been able to secure a place near the stadium for both himself and Rosa.

Rosa was currently in his room, reading a leaflet on the events while siting on the couch. "They're saying a local celebrity will be acting as the event's host on stage. I wonder if it's going to be Curtis? He said he was going to be busy."

"Could be," Nate said, while reviewing his Pokemon. He knew he wanted to take Ruby into the battles; she was now an Emboar and had been with him from the start, so it felt right to have her. And he also knew that he didn't want to take Patience. While she tried her hardest and was now much better behaved (she had even asked before taking a bracelet from Rosa's things to investigate), she had yet to evolve. An Eevee would not only be behind the rest of his team in power, but the unpredictable nature of their evolutions meant that she could also be a hindrance if the type she evolved into unbalanced his team of three. After all, this wasn't a game and there were more environmental effects that might influence her.

"Oh, and there's supposed to be a special mystery guest during the tournament too!" Rosa said. "So many things they're keeping under wraps still."

"It's probably to boost excitement and anticipation," Nate said. "What's their guest for?"

"It says that it's going to be a Gym Leader from a foreign League, who's going to give a special exhibition match with one of the Unova Gym Leaders, among other exhibition matches the day after tomorrow's tournament. Plus, the visiting Leader might challenge the winner of the tournament, if that person decides to offer it. I wonder who they're gonna bring over. There hasn't been any talk in town about someone like that."

"They might be keeping a low profile until tomorrow." Rune would be a good choice, since he was quite powerful with a variety of moves. Signet as a Golurk could be a help too, although then he'd want a Water-type counter so Cathy would go if Signet did. But Cathy was still a Petlil; he would want to find a Dawn Stone, and fast, if he wanted to make the best use of her tomorrow. Felix could be a good choice too, especially paired with Rune. Felix was a Zoroark now, so he was strong. Maybe not as much as Ruby or Signet, but he had the advantage of his ability to confuse their opponents and keep them on edge. Although, once it came out that he had a Zoroark on his team, his competitors would likely stay cautious in case he had Felix out.

"Yeah, could be." She set the leaflet aside and looked at them. "So are you guys nervous or excited? Most of you are quiet like normal, well except for Felix and Cathy, but that's normal." She looked over at where the Zoroark and Petlil were talking back and forth, batting a ball between then across the floor. Patience was watching from the bed, but not jumping in.

"I'm mostly tired of waiting for this to happen," Nate said. "I'd like to get to tomorrow sooner, if possible."

Rosa grinned. "That's it?"

He shrugged. "It's the inevitable tournament rule, which states that if you're playing a video game and a tournament is mentioned, more likely than not, you'll find yourself being roped into joining. So I'd like to get the mandatory event over with so we can get on with things." That made Rosa laugh, so he laughed too.

* * *

August 18

The Pokemon World Tournament Stadium opened up early in the morning with a festival-like atmosphere. The stadium building itself was kept closed until one in the afternoon, but the plaza surrounding it was buzzing with activity. Many colorful stalls were selling souvenirs, Pokemon goods, clothing, and food. Over on the east side of the stadium, a stage had been set up where various Pokemon Trainers that pursued ways other than battle showed off what their Pokemon could do.

And ominously, there was a ship in the stadium docks that stood out from the rest. It was over three times the size of the next largest boat there and surrounded by a low hanging mist. It was the replica frigate, out in the open again after weeks of hiding.

Nate and Rosa made their way through the crowd, to the docks where fewer people were coming and going. As expected, they found Hugh there, observing the ship from the dock it sat besides. The ship was completely closed up, without a sign of anyone on or from it. "They're just sitting there, doing nothing in order to taunt us," Hugh said. "At least it feels that way. None of the dock workers remember when exactly that ship got in, or if the gangplank was down to let anyone off. They say they haven't heard a peep out of the crew. I tried flying over it, but it has a shield that kept Tam from wanting to land on the deck."

"I'm afraid that there isn't enough concrete evidence that we have to say that Kyurem is on board that ship," Nate said. "Even if it is the main suspect. If we tried to get on board, we'd only be asking for trouble, especially if it turns out not to be affiliated with Plasma."

"Reshiram or Zekrom might be able to say if Kyurem is there, if they get up here next to it," Rosa said. "But, right next to where Plasma is is not where we want them to be."

"Well what about you?" Hugh said, looking at her. "If not you, couldn't you call on one of the other swordmons?"

"I don't know," Rosa said, scratching her head. "And I'm not sure the others would want to come out here with all these people around."

Nate nodded. "Yes, while they should be able to sense his presence, the fact that there's so many humans around will keep them from coming here."

"Good grief," Hugh muttered, shaking his head. "Well I'll keep an eye on it during the morning, but I'm in the tournament, so there's not much I can do about watching it past noon."

"Wouldn't it make more sense to keep an eye on the crowd, to see if they're out there?" Rosa asked.

"I doubt they'd wear the all-black uniform on a day like this," Nate said. "At least if they had some common sense."

* * *

"Are you sure about this?" the man from Plasma asked, seeming nervous. "I mean, in this crowd, I would stick out like a sore thumb in all black like this."

That was the point. But he couldn't be told that. "You're not going to be in the crowd," Colress said, smiling and speaking reassuringly. "You're going to be right here in this side hole of the Driftveil-Castelia tunnel, monitoring communications and looking for what the police are looking for. The black will help you blend into these shadows; that along with the rock curtain camouflage will keep people from noticing that you're here. I've been planning this day from in its entirety carefully."

"I see," he said, relaxing. "Then how am I pulling out of here?"

"If things go well, I'll let you know to take down the equipment and head to Castelia through the tunnel around sundown. We'll pick you up tomorrow unless I send further instructions." He looked at his Xtransceiver. "On the other hand, if something doesn't go quite right, I may instruct you to head directly back to the ship. Don't worry about sticking out. Just get right back to the ship if I say so. Clear?"

He nodded. "Clear, sir. Although I hope it doesn't come to that."

"Me either," Colress said, then gave him the team's salute and headed out above ground.

Triste floated a little ahead of him and traced glowing lights through the air with his fingers. As a Beheeyem now, he rarely made a sound. Still, Colress found that he could follow Triste's lights and guess with what he felt was a fair accuracy. At least Triste's expressions and relayed feelings said so.

"I'm setting up the final pieces for the experiment's big test," he explained. "Which does mean some misdirection is needed. The sequence of events I want is a little complex, shuffling people into their proper roles in this play. But the payoff should be worth it, giving me a great deal of valuable insight into the role of Trainers in Pokemon training."

Triste nodded, but his next message seemed to be tinted with lingering anxiety.

"Of course you're an important part of these actions," Colress said, smiling. "I'm counting on you to get me far in this tournament."

That didn't seem to be what he was looking for, but it did cheer Triste up.

* * *

Late in the morning, the electronic billboard outside of the stadium began displaying information about the competitors and the brackets for the opening tournament. "Oh hey, Cheren's going to be in the tournament too!" Rosa said, standing up on her toes to watch the screens go by.

"He's the official Unova League representative for this," Nate said. "I'm guessing it's because he's the newest member. Although, I'm sure he'll be using a much higher level team than what we faced in Aspertia."

"Yeah, they wouldn't want hm in with an easy team," Rosa said, nodding. "And there you are! And... aw, you're facing Hugh right off. I was hoping for a more dramatic show down with you two."

Nate flipped open his Xtransceiver to send a message. "Hmm, I think I'll tell him that we ought to put on a more dramatic battle even if it's going to be the opening round."

Rosa giggled. "Really? Hah, that'll be interesting to see, since you don't usually do it."

He shrugged. "Well why not? Got to entertain the crowd, especially with it being broadcast live worldwide."

"Then you ought to call him your most serious rival or something."

"We've hardly fought or met with each other all this time," Nate pointed out. The next bracket came up, but it was a pair that he didn't recognize.

"Maybe, but how many people are going to know that? And if he plays along, it'll be so great! I'm sure the audience will love it."

"We'll see..." the last bracket showed up and while one again was a stranger, the other he recognized. "Huh, so he is going to be involved."

"Who... oh, Colress too?" She crossed her arms over her chest. "How good is he?"

"Pretty good. I mean, I got Signet from him. I'd be most worried if he has that Elgyem on his team. You now, the one we see him with all the time. Although he did have some other tough Pokemon with him, when I saw him last."

"Looks like this should be fun," Rosa said, bouncing in place. "Why can't we speed time up a bit?"

Nate chuckled. "Yeah, that would be nice. Well, want to get lunch? There's plenty around to choose from."

"Sure!"

* * *

Just before one, the lobby of the stadium got crowded as people were coming to fill in their seats. Nate met with Hugh at the entrance to the hall where the competitors went to their waiting rooms. "Anything happen with the ship? We didn't see anyone suspicious in the crowd."

Hugh shook his head. "No. Like the dock workers said, nothing was going on with it. I thought I heard some footsteps behind those walls, but it was hard to tell if I did or not."

"Well there's plenty of police around," Nate said, pointing out a couple who were acting as security guards. "I think they'd have a hard time getting in to cause trouble."

"I hope you're right." Then he turned and waved Nate to follow him into the hall. "So you want to do something crazy for the crowd?"

"Not crazy, just enough to make the match seem like a really big deal."

"I would've gone along with crazy." Then he grinned. "This could be fun. What do you say to...?"

* * *

After several minutes in line, Rosa recognized a woman waiting just before the ticket taker. She was one of those who lived at Plasma's camp up north. "Oh, hey there Concordia!" she said, giving her a smile and wave. "How's it going?"

Concordia gave a shy smile. "Oh, hello Rosa. It's good, just noisy and crowded. So," she helped up a donation jar, "want to buy a quick raffle ticket for our charity? We help discarded and abandoned Pokemon get into good care, with new loving Trainers. If you pull a lucky ticket, you could get a special prize, like a fee waiver for our adoption service, or even a free stadium seating upgrade with special benefits."

"Sure, that sounds great," she said, opening a pocket on her bag to pull out the right amount of Poke for the ticket. After placing a bill in the donation jar, Concordia had her friend Athena hold the raffle ticket jar out for Rosa to pick a ticket out. It was a solid gray container with a felt lid, so there wasn't any way to see what was being drawn. Rosa pulled out a white ticket. "How's this one?"

Concordia brightened. "Wow, that should be a lucky one! Let's see the number, and," she checked a list on the back of her donation jar. "Yup, you get the top prize!"

"All right!" Rosa said clapping her hands together. "What is it?"

"It was just added this morning," Athena said, in a quiet kind of excitement. "The special guest of today's tournament heard about what we were doing, and he arranged it so that one lucky person would get upgrade to sit in the VIP box seats with him."

"That was really generous and we were amazed when he offered it," Concordia said. "So you get to watch the Tournament with Wallace from Hoenn."

"OMIGOSH, REALLY?!" Rosa squealed, startling a good number of people and Pokemon in the lobby. If she got the offer to spend some time with anyone else in the world over this afternoon with Wallace, one of the most elegant and famous Water Trainers in the world, she would not take it. "AAAAAA, thank you! This is great, no, awesome!"

"Thanks for donating to our cause," Concordia said with a smile as Athena brought out a pass to hand to Rosa. "Just give the ticket taker that pass, and you'll be taken up to the VIP box. Have fun!" Then they went to the people behind Rosa, to offer a draw at their raffle for the other prizes.

This was almost unbelievable, but when she handed her ticket and the pass to the ticket taker, he nodded and told her to wait by one of the other doors for a moment until a valet came down to take her through the door and around the upper halls to reach the proper box seat area. The valet told her that it was fine for her Pokemon to be out in the box seats, unlike the regular seats where she'd only be able to keep one of the smaller ones out. Then she was brought in to a separate room above other seats to meet with one of her idols.

He looked a little less perfect than he did in the glossy publicity photos, but the fact that he looked that good in person was impressive. Wallace was waring white pants and shoes, a white vest over a dark blue button-up shirt, and a white beret with blue trim. He had his hair styled with nice asymmetrical bangs and a bright smile on his face when they came in. "Welcome, please come sit down," he said, with a strong but clear accent of someone who normally spoke another language. "And don't mind the Pokemon; they're being well behaved today." A Lanturn nearby chirped and sparked, while a lovely Milotic looked over serenely, slowly fanning herself with her tail. One of the seats was taken up by a Ludicolo, who swayed back and forth as if he'd rather be dancing than sitting.

"That's fine; I have my own too." She shook his hand when offered, feeling absolutely giddy. "Eeek, sorry, I'm just so happy to get to meet you! I never thought I'd get a chance like this."

"Well I am happy to have the company of a pretty young lady, Rosa," he said, nodding. "Especially for the sake of those lovely hard-working ladies with the Pokemon charity."

"Oh yes, they do great work," she said, taking her Pokeball holder and releasing her Dewott first. "Bard, we get to have everybody out today!"

"Wooowaa!" he cheered, twirling around and jumping into a seat by her.

It made Wallace laugh, although he raised an eyebrow as she released the rest of her team. "Well this is a happy coincidence, having my pass offer get taken by a fellow Water Trainer."

"Yeah, I've always loved the type," she said. She thought about mentioning that she was a Water Pokemon too, technically, but decided not to. That might seem weird. "I haven't met one that I didn't like."

"That's great. Are you in this region's league challengers?"

She nodded. "Yup. But I'm not taking on the gym in this town yet, because I still need to go back over and beat Elesa before she moves up to her next ranked team. She runs the Electric Gym, but that's why I've got Elda over here; I think she's just about strong enough to take it on her own." Elda croaked at the mention of her name, watching them.

"Good luck with that," Wallace said. "Though it looks like a sound plan. Decided to take a break to watch this?"

"Kind of. I know three of the competitors in the tournament, and sort of know a fourth, so I came to watch them."

"Ah. Know which one you're cheering for?"

She laughed. "Not really. Just whichever ones get ahead, or all of them." There was still time before the tournament started, so she started asking him questions about his Pokemon and the gym he ran in Hoenn.

At one o'clock, the lights around the stadium began to dim, quieting the audience as it went dark. In quick succession, the lights on the battle floor and around the shielding ring activated, flashing in an exciting flow of colors. The large screen taking up a large portion of the stadium changed from a scrolling display to a live camera feed. The audience cheered as a spotlight fell on the back central entrance to the arena, revealing Clay and Christoph walking out to the announcer's stand. Clay gave the strong impression of a rough wild west miner, or a cowboy not long off the trail. A Korokok walked just behind him, giving an impression like a sunglasses wearing bodyguard.

On the other hand, Curtis was like the sparkling shining star that he was, no matter how much circumstances had tried to diminish him. The messed up purple hair dye was gone, leaving him with golden blond hair in bouncing waves that he didn't bother to hide under a hat. He wore a white, silver, and black outfit, with reflective black sunglasses sitting on top of his head. He had a big friendly smile on his face; even seeing him on the camera, it was hard to tell if that was his act today or if he really was feeling excited for this appearance. Near him, River was keeping a watchful eye; on the screen, Rosa noticed something on the Lucario's neck glittering. Curtis also had wisps of purple smoke trailing from his hair; it seemed Spectra was hanging close to him, possibly for some planned mischief between rounds.

Taking a microphone in hand, Curtis waved to the audience. "Hello, all you bright and beautiful people! Welcome to the Grand Opening Tournament of the Pokemon World Tournament Stadium in the wonderful city of Driftveil, Unova!" The audience applauded loudly, cheering in excitement. "Thank you! I am your host for this weekend's magnificent activities, Christoph, and here with me is the man who made this all possible, and this weekend's official battle referee, the Gym Leader of Driftviel City, Clay! Have any words to say before we set the action in motion, Clay?"

Clay gave a single nod, and spoke into the microphone in front of his seat. "Afternoon, all. I hope the challengers are listening when I say that I hope to see some exciting but fair competition out there. Let's keep this to clean skill as Trainers and Pokemon."

"Right, we all hope for that of our talented Trainers and Pokemon," Curtis said. "All right, are we ready for the excitement? For our first match, we have a classic match up of organizations, of brawn versus brain. On the left side, we have the representative of the Fists of Friendship karate clan of Trainers who fight alongside their Pokemon, Hugh from Aspertia City!"

This caused a spotlight to fall on the competitor's entrance to the left of where Rosa and Wallace were, on Hugh. He was dressed much as usual, although he wore a dark blue jacket for his group. As he walked up to the battle square, Curtis continued to introduce the other battler.

"And on the right, we have the representative for the Unova Battle Subway Group, the group dedicated to efficient strategy and train lore, a mysterious Trainer known only by one name, Nate!"

Nate came up to the battle square next. "I know both of them," Rosa told Wallace. "Hugh's been my neighbor for a few years, and Nate travels around with me competing in the League. He's ahead of me, though; he's already got badges from Elesa and Clay, as well as the others I have."

"You'd think a good drama would have the friends meet their match in the end round," Wallace said.

She nodded. "I know, that's exactly what I thought! But this should still be good."

As the applause for the two quieted, Curtis said, "Do our competitors have anything to say to each other before the match?"

"Yeah, I do!" Hugh said, then pointed to Nate. "It's about time you showed me what you're really capable of! I left her under your watch, so you'd better not disappoint me."

"If you'd been around, you'd know that she's perfectly capable on her own," Nate replied calmly. "Although I am also looking forward to seeing if you can live up to your boasting, or if you've been avoiding me all along because you're too chicken to really test yourself against me."

"What?!" Hugh said, looking indignant among the cheers and heckles to this exchange.

"Seems like we've got a pair of hot-blooded rivals to start off with," Curtis said, taking what they offered and running with it. "All right, let's keep it in the rules, like Clay said. Anything else will have to wait until later." As people laughed, Curtis raised his free hand. "Competitors ready? Pokemon ready? Begin the battle!" The screen flashed as they both called on their first Pokemon.

"Aw, I thought they could come up with something better than that," Rosa said.

"No, that was pretty good," Wallace said. "Certainly has the rest of the audience fired up."

Although he was representing a karate group, Hugh opened with his Unfezant Tam. Nate called out Ruby's name as he released, but with the first move he called for, it was apparent to Rosa that he was actually opening with Felix. Hugh didn't catch this as he asked for Fly, allowing Felix to prepare for and deflect the move entirely before striking again and knocking out Tam. He released a Conkeldurr, which did reveal Felix's true identity, right before knocking him out. Unfortunately for Hugh, Nate was then able to call on Rune to devastate the Conkeldurr, as well as his Serperior Vino.

"The winner of the first round is Nate," Clay said. "Good job, both of you."

"Tch, still tricky and clever like before," Hugh said.

Nae smiled. "You should hang around us some more and pick up some pointers. I'll see you around."

"Yea, later." They came forward to shake each other's hands, then parted.

"Well, couldn't ask for a better result than that," Curtis said.

* * *

In a guarded room of Opelucid Hospital, N sat by Hilbert's bed, watching the tournament with him. Reshiram and Zekrom were both in their human forms, sitting on a couch and watching along at others. "That went by quick," N said.

"Is he using your Pokemon?" Hilbert asked. His voice was hard to hear, but he was awake and mostly alert today, much better than he'd been doing previously.

"Yes and no," N said. "Rune was one of mine. You remember? You were with me when I got him. But that's another Zoroark. Zane's helping to guard the door."

"That was the first time we spoke with Reshiram, right?"

N nodded. "Yeah, that's right."

"Though it was the second time I made contact with Hilbert," Reshiram said. "He just couldn't understand or even hear me the first time."

"Do you remember that?" N asked. He was supposed to be helping Hilbert by encouraging him to think and remember. Keeping his thoughts moving would help him get back to his normal state of being.

While Hilbert was thinking, N got distracted briefly, hearing Christoph introducing Cheren as the representative of the Unova Pokemon League for the second match. But once Hilbert started speaking, he turned back to his brother. "That... was in Nacrene? I got the Light Stone from the museum because my innate state of permanent Attract mode got them to trust me. Then Kyurem and you submerged the Attract state so that everyone got to see me as I was, not as they wanted to see me."

"That's right," Reshiram said.

N looked down for a moment. "Nacrene, huh? That's where I had ice cream for the first time. A root beer float, actually."

"Were you in Nacrene before or did it just take you that long?" Hilbert asked slowly.

He looked up at him. "It took me that long, to get a chance outside my controlled diet. It was Hilda's doing, actually. She caught me coming out of the Gym, then insisted on getting treats for my Pokemon and me because we had won. It bewildered me at the time. But then, she bewildered me a lot at first. I didn't want to admit that I liked it."

"That you liked ice cream or that she be.. confused you?"

"Both, I think," N said.

"She'll come back," Hilbert said, then closed his eyes.

"I hope she does," N said. After a moment, he touched Hilbert's arm. "Hey...? Oh, he's asleep again."

Figuring that he'd wake up in another few minutes like last time, N watched some more of the tournament playing on TV. Back then, such an event would have disgusted him. Now, he could admit that the Pokemon participating were having fun. It wasn't that bad. Only a few people made it bad.

But then... he looked back at Hilbert. Some people could make good things, like Pokemon and humans working together, turn out very badly. People like their father. Because of him, the guardians of Unova had to be guarded themselves. N felt like he really should be doing something to fight against Ghetsis.

But if he came face to face with him again... could he?

* * *

In the second round, Nate came up against Cheren. The Gym Leader from her hometown was using a team similar to what he used before, focusing on Normal Pokemon. However, they were much stronger, including a sturdy Stoutland and his own nimble Unfezant. It still wasn't much of a challenge for Nate, especially because he actually opened with Ruby rather than Felix that round.

And so... "Here we are at the final round, where the first winner in this magnificent stadium will be decided," Curtis said with great enthusiasm that was echoed by his Spiritomb Spectra, who was now sitting on the referee's table behind him. "How about we give a big round of applause for our two talented contenders? First, on the left, we have our cool-headed calculating tactician from the Battle Subway Group, Nate, who has won two cunning victories! And facing against him on the stage of champions, we have our sharp-eyed strategist from the Battle Research Institute, Colress, who has completely dominated his competition without losing a single Pokemon! Whose technique will reign supreme? Anything can happen at this stage, it seems."

The crowd was just as enthusiastic, eager to see these two compete. But as something of a difference, Patience was with Nate this time, riding happily on his left shoulder. Nate and Colress also met up in the center, to shake hands before the match. Rosa leaned forward with the Pokemon in the box, but it was only her Pokemon there. Wallace had said that he was going to go down to stadium level, for something after the battle.

"I had a feeling that I might be facing you here," Colress said warmly, smiling as if for a good friend rather than someone seen on rare occasion. "Got a change in line-up, is it?" He tapped the Eevee on the forehead, making her sniff his hand curiously.

"No, she just wanted to be part of the excitement," Nate said. "It'll be interesting to face you again."

"Exactly what I thought. Well let's not dally for now. Maybe we can talk afterwards."

Nate nodded in agreement, so they both backed off to their spots for the battle, with Patience hopping off Nate's shoulder and sitting just behind his feet. "Now that's the kind of respect and kinship among Trainers that we like to see," Curtis said. "All right, the final battle of the Opening Tournament looms before us. Is everyone ready?! Trainers ready? Pokemon ready? Then, let the final battle begin!"

The crowd roared as Nate and Colress released their first Pokemon. As he had previously, Colress started with his Beheeyem. He guessed that Nate would actually have his Zoroark, but in a bold move, he actually had Ruby out to use Flame Charge. The move that would have revealed Felix did not do much to Ruby. Colress then had Triste use Psychic while Nate ordered Ruby to keep up Flame Charge. Both Pokemon were hit hard; either of them could have been knocked out, but the glittering in Triste's lights and the powerful gleam in Ruby's eyes proved that both were giving their all to resist the pain to keep in the fight. For the next move, it would be whichever one could move first. That was Ruby, with the speed boost of Flame Charge behind her. Nate asked Ruby if she was holding up;the Emboar nodded, willing to use brinkmanship. Colress next called up a Metang he called Cabal, but Flame Charge knocked it clean out, along with Argent the Magneton who must have gotten only a glance at Nate before being out of the fight.

"The winner of the match is Nate, his Sigilyph Rune, his Zoroark Felix, and his Emboar Ruby," Clay announced amid loud cheers from the audience. In the meantime, Nate was using a potion on Ruby, more concerned about leaving her in her precarious condition rather than acknowledging the win.

"And we have our champion for the PWT Opening Weekend Tournament!" Curtis said, gesturing to Nate.

"Excellent work, Nate," Colress said, seeming happy even though he had lost. In an interesting move, he then re-released Triste, also now healed up from the battle. "You've met and exceeded my expectations of you these past few months. And you've given me a great deal of valuable information through the training study."

"I use nothing more than common sense and some consideration of all factors," Nate said.

"That's a lot more than nothing, though," Colress pointed out.

"It certainly was," Curtis said, still up on the announcer's stand. "But before we go presenting your reward, how about some words from a master?" He then turned back to the entrance where he and Clay had come in from. "Introducing, a special guest to our tournament come all the way from the region of Hoenn, a one time Regional League Champion, many time Master-Ranked Coordinator, and the Gym Leader of Sootopolish, Wallace Grant!"

There was another swell of cheers and excitement from the audience as Wallace strode in, passing by the announcer's stand and entering the battle square with Nate and Colress (the latter deciding this was an appropriate moment to slip to the shadows and out of the spotlights. "Hello, and congratulations Nate!" Wallace said, shaking his hand. "That was quite a performance from you and your Pokemon; never lost a moment of your cool."

"Thank you," Nate said. "But it's more my Pokemons' doing than my own."

"You still lead them. Speaking of which, I've heard that you've managed to get five of this region's League badges ever since you started this spring. I can't resist a challenger like that; would you care for a battle against me? I'll even let you pull in the rest of your team like your charming Eevee there."

Patience tilted her head at the offer while Nate simply looked right at Wallace and asked, much to the amusement of the audience, "Are you sure about that?" Which turned out to be an appropriate question when he called out his full team and made a strong showing against Wallace.

After a ceremony where Clay presented Nate with a Pokeball-shaped trophy, Rosa waited for a bit, as she received a message from Hugh saying that they were going to wait for most of the people to leave before trying to head out of the stadium. While she was waiting on a message to head down from him and Nate, Wallace showed back up at the door to the box. "Did you forget something?" Rosa asked, although she hadn't noticed anything.

"I don't believe so," he said, coming in with his Milotic and another Pokemon following. The latter was swimming in the air like Chuchu and Medusa did, albeit at a lazy pace. "I just wanted to speak with you one more time before we parted ways for today. Firstly, your friend Nate... he's quite a Trainer, passing and winning this tournament as he did. I'd expect to hear of even greater things out of him."

Rosa nodded. "Yeah, he might not seem like it, but he's memorized an awful lot of information about Pokemon. And then he always treats his Pokemon well, so they work really hard for him."

"That much is obvious when seeing them in battle," Wallace said. "As it's obvious, to me anyhow, that you must be an equally talented Trainer based on seeing your Pokemon interacting with you and each other. It might seem as though you're always behind your friends, trying to catch up. But then, you have a different kind of team from them, one that's more challenging to work with."

"Yeah, but I can't help it," she said, smiling a little sheepishly. "I want to work with Pokemon I love."

"As you should. That's why, if you'll have him, I'd like to send you along with one of my Pokemon." He smiled. "Don't worry; I get more Pokemon that I can possibly work with at times, and I like to see the children of my team go to good Trainers. This fellow here is a Feebas; I've been calling him Hikari, but you can call him what you like. I'd recommend something with beauty, though, as it'll be fitting later. They're not easy to train, but if you really are devoted to Water Pokemon, I'm sure you can figure him out."

And when she thought the day couldn't get any better, it did. "Wow, thank you Wallace!" she said, going over to the Feebas. Hikari looked at her and blinked. "I think he's cute."

That made Wallace laugh. "Well that puts you ahead of the game in working with him. Please do treat him well."

She nodded. "Of course, I promise I will."


	38. Battle of the Frigate

August 18

Driftveil, PWT Stadium

'Get to the ship now.' The message was waiting on Colress' Xtransceiver, but he wanted the right moment to send it off. Standing by one of the pillars, he watched through the door of the quickly emptying stadium lobby to see Rosa, Christoph, and Hugh just outside on the steps. They were waiting on Nate.

Rosa was leaning over the Lucario who had been with Christoph during the event. "When did she get this pretty necklace? It gives me an odd feeling looking at it up close."

"Does it?" Christoph asked. "While I was working with the event organizers, they wanted her to wear some kind of fashion accessory, but she refused anything they tried to put on her until Clay offered that necklace. Given how attached River seems to feel about it, I think I'm going to try talking him into letting me buy it for her."

"What kind of stone is it?" Rosa asked.

"Lucarioite?" Colress murmured. However, he was far enough away that they didn't even notice him eavesdropping. He tilted his head, glancing at Triste. "It would be interesting to see what happens, but..." them getting the stone to do anything would be unlikely, that is, unless Rosa could get it to react. It was a process that few knew about, and even fewer knew how it worked in any fashion. But if she was something special as he suspected, then it could very well be activated in her presence.

"I'm not really sure," Christoph said. "You'd have to ask Clay; he should know. The design and style of the necklace makes me think it's from Kalos."

"There you all are," Cheren called, somewhere outside where he couldn't be seen. The three teens turned away from the stadium to talk with him.

Then Colress saw Nate finally come out of the challenger's door, meaning it was time to send the signal message. Someone must have started talking to Nate back there, which meant that Colress might be brushed off. But then, he had moves left to use in this game. The Eevee with Nate barked and hurried off outside, where she greeted the Lucario. Colress stopped leaning on the pillar and said, "Ah, there you are, Nate. Do you have a few minutes?"

"Not right now," Nate said, not yet looking out the door. Good. "I was going to meet up with my friends. But if you want, we could arrange to meet sometime this evening." He smiled. "I'd like to hear how your experiment is going."

"Yes, that is what I wanted to talk to you about," Colress said. At that moment, the Ghost member of the Triad appeared behind Nate and brought her hand quickly in front of his face, snapping her fingers with such speed that it must have appeared as a blur. Nate's eyes immediately closed and his head drooped. "Thank you."

"You have him under for ten minutes at best," she said. Meanwhile, there was shouting outside. Colress wasn't looking, but he knew what that was. The Plasma member he had planted in the tunnel would have run directly to the dock, grabbing the attention of Hugh who hated Plasma so much that he would have immediately gone in pursuit of the bait in full black uniform. Then Rosa and probably Cheren would go after him. Maybe even Christoph, if he was their friend too? It was hard to say.

"That should be fine," Colress said, pulling Nate back to the challenger's entrance hall.

Triste paused before coming after them. He made his lights glow red-orange, pointing towards the entrance door.

"Is it about the Eevee?" Colress asked. He noticed that the Pokemon hadn't returned back inside. "Don't mind it; I don't think it'll make a difference. The thing is, I know that the boss is going ahead on the plans the instant we pull out of dock here, since I've been telling him to delay until the tournament. The next time we meet up with this boy, he might already know about us. But I want to see this. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity... no, it would happen less often than that. Because how many times do we get visitors from another timeline? Much less one that we can identify as readily as him?" Colress brought Nate into the nearest room, where he had set up a temporary teleport pad. Pulling the hypnotized Nate onto the pad to operate it, he sent them all the way across Unova to a building right next to the northern gate house of Black City.

This carried a huge risk, if his research into the myths of the world was right. But again, when would he ever get the opportunity to perform this kind of observation ever again? It was time to have Nate meet his other self.

* * *

It all moved so fast. One minute, they were standing outside the stadium, waiting on Nate to come out. Then a very obvious member of Team Plasma rushed by, hurrying to the docks. Hugh jumped on the chance and rushed after him; Rosa quickly followed, worried that her friend would get in trouble. Cheren muttered, "Them?" and hurried off after the group. River rushed after them too.

"W-wait!" Patience called, running to the docks after everyone. What was going on? The Eevee wasn't sure, but she was with Curtis when they arrived at the docks.

That mysterious ship that everyone seemed interested in was still there, but now it had a break in its hefty walls. Patience saw Rosa and Cheren get on board, but then the ramp started lifting. While River was easily able to get on, Curtis stopped where he was, not sure if he'd get there in time. But, what if everyone got in trouble? Patience hurried as best she could, leaping onto the rising ramp. As she landed, it began to rise quicker, causing her to slide onto the deck.

"Oof." Patience flicked her tail forward, trying to keep it from getting caught in the closing ramp. As it clanked shut, she took a look around. Rosa, Cheren, and Hugh were all there, with River just behind them. Opposing them were about two dozen members of Team Plasma in thick black clothing. Although it was summer, that made perfect sense; the deck of this ship was really cold, not feeling good on the Eevee's paws. Then there were all these mean people glaring at them... Patience drooped her ears. "O-oh dear..."

"So this is where you've been hiding out," Hugh said, clenching a fist.

"What are you kids doing here?" one of the Plasma members asked.

"It wasn't my fault," one of other Plasma men said, from behind the others. "I got called back here, I swear! It's," he fumbled with one of those wrist phone things, then stared at it, "Uh... it was here..."

"Whatever the reason is," the first one said, "we're going to have to punish you for trespassing. Give yourselves up and hand over your Pokemon."

"Are you serious?" Cheren asked. "You really think the lot of you can take on the three of us?"

Hugh snorted. "Yeah, you've been nothing but weak punks. We can take you all on!"

"Ooo, this is scary," Patience said, crouching down. But that just made her belly cold too.

"Patience?" River turned around and looked at her. "You got on too?"

"Ye-yeah, I was running with Curtis, but he stopped and... where's Nate? Oh, I'm gonna be in trouble for running away."

"That's the least of your problems," River said, turning back around but stepping towards her. "I'm sure he'll understand once this is over with. For now, we've got some bad guys to fight."

"Easy for you to say," Patience said, sitting up. The humans were already commanding their Pokemon. "I'll try."

"Seems you two are on your own," one of the Plasma women said, releasing a Liepard at her side. "We'll just have to correct that."

"You so made the wrong choice, lady," River said, then punched the Liepard clear across the deck of the ship.

"I'll help," Patience said, using Quick Attack as soon as the woman released another Pokemon, this time a Garbador. But again, River could handle it on her own, this time by lobbing earthy bones at it. The Eevee did what she could. On their own, without any humans, the two of them defeated three of the Plasma grunts and their Pokemon teams.

By that time, the Plasma group was nearly all defeated by the trespassers. It hadn't been so bad, Patience thought, although Nate being here would've defeated them all much sooner. But it didn't make this situation any better because it was still cold. Because she had bare paws and no shoes, her toes and lower legs were feeling frigid, making her hop from foot to foot. River didn't seem to care, but she was tough and could tolerate such things better.

So cold... a coldness like the blackness of space, a cold that implied the absence of everything. Patience closed her eyes and for a moment, she felt the presence of a non-presence. A being that meant nothing. But, somewhere in that frigid sense of nothingness, there was someone: a Pokemon carrying a great feeling of grief and shame, cut off from the world by his own power. For a moment, Patience felt like she was in contact with that Pokemon. Feeling his sadness caused an echo of pain in her heart.

"Huh, mister?" Patience tilted her head, wondering what was going on. "Why're you so sad? Can I help you? I mean, I'm a troublesome Pokemon and I can't do much. But... can I help?"

His eyes were like a fierce blizzard. After a moment of silence, he said, "I need to get out of here. I... need to find her. Or not, I shouldn't... just to know that she's safe. You... be the proof to break the facade." Then he roared in a way that couldn't be heard. It made Patience feel the intense cold deep into her bones. Her body pushed to adapt quickly.

And thus, she opened her eyes to find herself back on the deck of the cold ship. But the cold didn't bother her at all now because her own body was just as frigid. And blue, her fur was now short and a shimmering blue, while she stood taller off the ground. This wasn't how she expected to evolve; she thought that Nate would choose for her. But maybe it was important.

It seemed to be, as Cheren was quick to notice. "So you do have Kyurem on board."

"S-say what?" one of the Plasma members asked. But they were intimidated now, defeated in spite of having the advantage of numbers.

"What's going on up here?" a new voice said. The group of Plasma members parted for an old man in a full violet and blue robe. "Who let these intruders on board?"

"You're Zinzolin, right?" Cheren asked. "I remember you from the Cold Storage Plant."

The old man Zinzolin put a hand to his chin. "Yes... you were that friend of Hilda's, right? I see you haven't changed, foolishly interfering with us."

"It's not foolish when good people like us keep trouncing you," Hugh said.

"I am Hilda's friend, now one of the Unova Gym Leaders," Cheren said. "And I know you have Kyurem here! We're going to be taking him back, even if we have to fight every one of you."

"Why would you accuse us of having Kyurem?" Zinzolin asked.

Cheren pointed to Patience, making everyone look at her. That made her feel fearful. But, this is what the sad Pokemon wanted, right? Proof so he could be freed; she tried to be brave and not quiver. "That girl was an Eevee when she came on board. I know because I saw her as the ramp shut. She's a Glaceon now, and the only way to get that Pokemon is to bring the Eevee into contact with a source of intense cold, well below the freezing point. I know people who tried in the old Cold Storage and failed, so you must have a source of cold generation that's stronger than technology here. And we have witnesses that say Kyurem was taken by the Shadow Triad. Thus, you have him here and we're going to take him back from you."

"That's a brave thing to say, but you won't be doing that," Zinzolin said. "Shadows, take them away!"

Then three strange humans appeared on deck, also dressed in black although in a more sinister fashion. It was those people, including the one who made Nate go bonkers shortly after Patience had met him. "We don't follow your command," one of the females said.

"I know, but you agree that they need to be off this ship?" he asked, trying not to get angry at their defiance.

"Very well," the other female said, causing a light to appear around the trespassers.

"Wait, no!" Rosa called out. The light flashed; Hugh and Cheren were gone when the air was cleared. On the other hand, Rosa, River, Patience, and Bard were still there. Rosa called out her sword, warping the air around her. "We're getting Kyurem back!" she said fiercely.

Most of the Plasma members seemed startled to see them still there. "What, you on your own, with just your Pokemon?" Zinzolin asked, trying to intimidate her.

And utterly failing to do so (even if he was scaring Patience). "If we have to, we will," Rosa said.

The three Shadows reappeared. "How did you get out from our power?" one of the women asked. Close by Patience, the male Shadow put his hand to his chest, looking down and showing an expression of pain in his eyes.

"Because nothing will stop justice!" Rosa said, swinging her sword down and warping the air even more. "Not even you three."

"What's going on with Rosa?" Patience asked River quietly.

"Time seems to be loosening around her, somehow," the Lucario replied, uncertain of the answer.

Then there was a bright glow from Rosa's sword, leading to another big flash of light. When that cleared, Rosa was there as Keldeo, not as a human. All of Rosa's other Pokemon, Medusa, Grim, Chuchu, Elda, and some new brown fish, they appeared with them. "What in the world is going on?" Zinzolin asked, backing up with most of the other Plasma members.

"Uh, yeah, what?" the brown fish asked, wide-eyed at the scene.

If Rosa was confused, she did a good job of ignoring it. Stomping a foot down, she called out in the language of Pokemon, "Come on, let's go get Kyurem! Patience, can you find him?"

"Uu-uu uh," she stammered for a moment while the others went into action. But then she had a feeling in her chest. It was easy. "Yes, yes I can! Come on, he's down below." She started to run to one of the stairs that led down into the ship.

However, one of the female Shadows got in her way and attacked her with a ghostly glow. "You're not getting further in," she hissed, speaking like Pokemon did.

"Eeep!" Patience lowered her ears and backed off. This woman was scary. Not only that, but the male Shadow appeared close by her and started buzzing. This wasn't good...

"Keep your hands off her!" River shouted, darting in and clobbering the male Shadow with one of her earthly bones. Only, something had happened to her. She somehow seemed bigger, and spikier. Around her neck, the stone on her necklace glittered brightly. Whatever was going on, it was enough to send that man flying further than she had thrown the Liepard before.

"What happened to you?" Patience asked.

"Don't know," River said, kicking at the ghostly Shadow but missing when she warped away. "Don't care either; let's get to Kyurem and free him so we can get out of here."

"Yeah, we've got you covered!" Bard called, sending waves of water around him to scare off the Plasmas. The only one of them that wasn't out of Pokemon was Zinzolin, and he could only release three: two Cryogonals and a Bronzong. The other Pokemon and Rosa seemed to have them handled. Even the new brown fish, who managed to slip under Zinzolin's robes and make him yelp by splashing around.

"Bard, get back here!" Rosa called, making her alicorn shine. "Grim, you go with Patience and River! We'll catch up!" The she released a flurry of energy slashes at one of the female Shadows.

"Right-o," Grim said. The Swanna flew over to them. "Where're we going?"

"Down below," Patience said, heading for the stairs now that they weren't blocked. Grim and River followed after her.

A guard was at the bottom of the stairs; he released his Pokemon immediately, but Grim and River took them out in seconds. The guard ran off into one of the rooms nearby, but Patience knew they needed to get to the front of the ship. In the hallway, there were a group of glowing barriers. River promptly rendered them useless by smashing a piece of computer equipment nearby, and thus they reached the end of the hall where they saw Kyurem.

He was in a cylindrical room with glass walls, one that seemed rather small to be holding the dragon. He probably couldn't turn around well. Immediately, Patience tried Swift to knock the glass out of the way. That only left a few scratches. "Um, River, you seem even stronger now, so...?"

"I'm on it," she said, studying the glass. River then jumped up on the railing, readied herself, then hopped over to punch the glass as hard as she could. It made the whole glass wall shake; even the metal floor under Patience's paws trembled. But it left little more than a few small cracks. "Hmph." She landed back on the railing. "Not even this power will take it down?"

"It is probably meant to hold in case he gets mad," Grim pointed out, landing by Patience. Then a deep rumble could be heard all around them as the ship shook. "Err... I hope that's not a bad thing."

"Guys?" Rosa called out from down the hall.

"Over here!" Patience barked, although the group with Rosa was already running their way. "We found him, but, um, not even River can break that glass."

"Darn, well," Rosa looked around, making her tail twitch. Then she looked at a glowing panel on the floor. "Ah, I bet that's a teleporter! And... no, not that one, but..."

"What about that one?" Bard asked, pointing to one across from the other.

"Yes, that's the one," Patience said. "I can feel his ice through it."

Rosa nodded. "Okay, let's go to him. Maybe he can break out if we convince him." She trotted over there, stepping on the panel and vanishing. All of the rest of the Pokemon followed after her.

Instead of teleporting them into Kyurem's chamber, they ended up back on the docks, next to the closed up ship. "Wait, how'd we get back out here?" Bard asked, amid the confusion from the humans that were on the dock.

Patience lowered her head. "I'm sorry. I felt that was the right way..."

"It's okay," Rosa said. "I believe you. They probably changed where it led when we headed for it. Rats! We were so close."

"Um, what's going on now?" the brown fish asked. "You seem like that girl I was given to, but then you..."

"It's me, Hikari," Rosa said, looking at one of her hooves. "Uh, I can't explain it either. I haven't been this way in a whole lifetime."

There was a roar of engines from the ship beside them, causing everyone on the dock to step away. All around the water, there was a bunch of white ships gathered. While they weren't as big as the frigate, it wouldn't be easy for the large ship to navigate through them. It was trying, moving sideways away from the dock.

"Wait, that's Rosa's Pokemon, but where's Rosa?" Hugh asked, looking around.

"I'm here!" she called, in the human language. She walked over to them. "But like I was telling them, I can't explain what happened to me just now."

"Rosa's Keldeo?" Cheren asked, puzzled.

Before the conversation could go on, there was a loud broadcast from one of the white ships. "Do not leave the docks. This is the Unova Coast Guard, ordering a board and search of the large frigate. I repeat, do not leave the docks."

They were answered by an equally loud but scarier voice from the frigate. "I'll never listen to you fools in a thousand years!" And then something amazing happened: the frigate sprouted wings, extending from the sides of the ship. The water beneath the ship churned up into a violent froth until the ship lifted itself right into the air. Once out of the waves, they could now see giant machines on the frigate's bottom that managed to repel the force of gravity. It got a hundred feet in the air when parts of the ship opened up. The back revealed some kind of jet engine, while the front brought out a cannon. "You think you can force your laws on us, Neo Plasma? Hah! We'll show you who holds the power in this land." As the ship continued to rise, the cannon gathered a bright white glow, then fired a blast of energy into the air above Driftveil. It exploded into millions of tiny shards of ice, causing it to snow even though it was the middle of August. The voice from the frigate laughed as it shot off to the west, escaping through the air.

"Did that really just happen?" Curtis asked, then looked down at Rosa. "Including you?"

"Yeah, it did," she said, walking towards land. She paused to look at them. "Well come on! Let's see what happened... hey, where's Nate?"

"He didn't make it on, even though his Eevee was there," Cheren said, walking after her.

"He wasn't on the docks with me when I called in the Coast Guard," Curtis said.

"I'm sure he said he was coming out right after me, once he stopped talking to Clay," Hugh said. "And Patience was with him at the time."

"I don't know what happened," Patience said, feeling uneasy. "I was with him when we came into the lobby, and then I saw River and got excited, so he let me run over to her. He should've been right there with us." They stepped off the docks and climbed the stairs up to the stadium plaza.

Things had changed dramatically here. It was snowing still, bigger flakes that were falling fast. Although the snowfall had just started, the ground was covered in patches of ice. There were even icicles, hanging at strange angles and pointing towards the spot where the icy explosion had happened. With so many dressed for a hot summer's day, people were scrambling to get indoors, out of the sudden winter's cold. A look past the stadium showed that things might be even icier in Driftveil itself.

"Huuu," River said, stopping near Patience and nearly slipping on a patch of ice. There was a brief glow and she came back in her normal form, looking exhausted. The stone on her necklace wasn't shimmering any more.

"You okay?" Patience asked, nudging her with her head.

"That took a lot out of me," the Lucario said, petting her. "I think I just need to rest."

"Curtis, you should call her back to her Pokeball," Rosa said to the humans. "Come to think of it, I'm not sure where any of my gear went."

"And how are you going to turn back into a human?" Cheren asked as River was recalled.

Rosa flicked her ears in annoyance. "I don't know yet! I was going to use my sword against the Triad, since it worked all right last time. But I don't have the sword now, so... I don't know."

Then Hugh's Xtransceiver went off. "It's Nate," he said, flipping it open. On answering the call, he immediately asked, "Where are you?"

"I... where are we again?" His voice came through as if he were tired too. "Oh right, the Abundant Shrine."

"He's where?" Rosa asked in disbelief.

"What are you talking about?" Hugh asked. "You're all the way across Unova! We just had to fight off Team Plasma and some crazy stuff went down here in Driftveil... what are you doing over there?"

"I'm still figuring it out," Nate said. "Where's Rosa? I tried to call her first."

"I'm here!" she called.

"Yeah, she's here, but not able to take calls at the moment," Hugh said, calming down.

"What is going on over there?" Nate asked, puzzled. "And, we'll definitely have to exchange information. I've got some news for you all." At which point, Cheren's Xtransceiver went off, with something that shocked him greatly.


	39. Time Warp

August 18

north of Black City

Triste was concerned. After evolving, he found that he could understand what Colress was doing better. It turned out to be a whole lot worse than what he suspected as an Elgyem. Like this observation he wanted to do with Nate, which involved kidnapping him with hypnosis and transporting him to a whole different location. It could do some serious damage to the integrity of the world, but Colress was still insistent on doing it, for the rare opportunity it presented to see such damage.

As it turned out, there was another history of the world where things had turned into a disaster because Team Plasma won their initial bid to rule Unova, and then the world. Many legendary Pokemon had fallen to the new power, but one way or another, Kyurem escaped destruction until he was able to move into the past, to change the way history had went in order to save his siblings from death. He had been successful, but the old history still existed, in a frail deteriorating manner. Then Nate crossed over to this timeline as well, going into the past from his perspective, but to a history that worked out much differently than his own. The Shadow Triad had detected the unusual presence around him. With a few hairs from Nate, Colress had been able to find his true identity, as the Sage Ryoko somehow regressed to his teenaged years due to the power that ravaged his world. Apparently Nate's foreignness to this history was minimal, so far. But once he came into contact with Ryoko of this history, the laws of the world would catch on to his presence It might end up deleting Nate entirely from this world, leaving wrinkles in current events that he had been involved in. It might rip a huge tear in the fabric of space-time and cause unimaginable things to occur.

But when Colress was determined to do something, even something stupid out of scientific curiosity, Triste knew there wasn't much he could do to stop him. He kept trying to think of what could be done to reduce the damage, especially anything that might save Nate. There was no reason to erase him from the world, not even to see what would happen from this meeting. But while he was smarter as a Beeheeyem, he still wasn't as smart as Colress.

Time and space began to warp around them as they entered the farm where the Abundant Shrine was located. This stirred Nate out of his hypnosis state. "What are we doing here?" he asked in a haze.

"We came to meet with someone special," Colress said, smiling in anticipation. "Come on, it's not long now."

"I have a bad feeling about this," Nate said, looking around and trying to get a grasp of the situation.

"You're not the only one," Triste said, although because neither was looking at him, they didn't know he did.

As they got closer to the shrine, they found a group of people and Pokemon discussing how the crops were faring. An elderly man was with the group, but he stepped away from them as Colress and Nate approached. "Pardon me, but we're a little busy to take visitors today... hmm?" He looked at Nate with the feeling that he should recognize him.

"We shouldn't take up too much of your time," Colress said, although the air was warping around them. "You're Ryoko, right? My name is Colress, and this young man here is Nate. We wanted to speak with you." He offered a handshake.

"If you think it's important," Ryoko said, a little uneasy but he took the handshake. Then he took Nate's hand for the same.

The air between them cracked open once they made contact, darkening the area. The farm where other people were seemed to slow down, but being right near it, things seemed to flow normally. Except, not normal as time tried to figure out how this meeting had occurred. Colress watched in interest, while Nate and Ryoko both seemed to be in a daze caught in each other's eyes.

"Your name... is Ryoko?" Nate said. "That's familiar, that's... that's my name. My actual name."

"You do look like what I did in pictures of my youth," Ryoko said. "Where did you come from?"

"A... another world? Or this one? I, I can't quite think of it." He cringed in pain and nearly fell over; Ryoko caught him, but that only increased the severity of the cracks.

"Another history of this world," Colress said with a fascinated awe. "But you have no buffers to being a foreign entity. It's intriguing that it didn't mess up your mind further."

"What is the meaning of this?" Ryoko asked, looking at Colress in new distrust.

"Why do you know... what's going on?" Nate began fading.

But then Triste felt a tug, from many directions. Nate had been in this history for some time, he felt. The boy had affected many people. Some felt positively towards him, some negatively, but most had strong feelings or memories about him. With the connections he had made influencing things, Nate stopped fading. However, the fabric of the world was still cracked, causing wrinkles in possibility.

Wrinkles? They would be smoothed out, possibly even naturally. But, what if they straightened out to a different pattern? This was a weak point in time and space. It might be possible, here and now, to do something with that... but that could mess up things further. Triste didn't want to wreck the world, leading to a situation like Nate's original timeline being ruined. But if he could do something, he knew what he'd want to do.

Triste heard a Pokemon's giggle, but when he looked around, he only saw some green sparkles flying around. "You want to change the past?" the unseen Pokemon whispered. "This would be your one opportunity to do that."

"I don't want to mess up the world," Triste said.

"You won't be, not to the extent of the other history. Just a little nudge, a few hours? Maybe make things a little better?" The sparkles came up right next to him. "You should. If you don't, Nate and Ryoko must resolve this problem when they weren't the ones who triggered this, not by intent. Colress was the one who triggered the crack by intention. And if I put you in a certain spot, he will have to resolve it. Make him take responsibility, as he should."

But would he? Colress had a way of shifting responsibility and blame around. Then again, it was like his Trainer had said earlier: this was an opportunity that was of astronomical probability. Triste wouldn't get another chance. Nodding, he said, "Okay, I know what to do."

"Good, thanks. Here you go!" The unseen Pokemon then shoved him, right into the crack. Triste heard Colress call out in alarm, but there wasn't a way to go back right now. He'd have to trust in the power that was sending him back into time.

Triste then found himself in a human town, in a tree in front of a house. After shaking his head and making sure he was all together, he noticed that the garage door of the house was open. A preteen boy with blond hair was pulling a fully loaded wagon out of the garage. "Mom, I'm going!" he called back into the house.

"Be careful crossing the road!" a woman called from inside.

"I know. You're going to come over later, right?"

"Of course, when I get your father out of his project. We'll be there at least, I promise. Good luck, Colress!"

"Thanks! I'll see you then." He then pulled the wagon towards the sidewalk and off to his goal.

He has the same kind of clothes on as he had in that memory, Triste thought. Blue jeans and a red striped shirt. This was definitely the right time. Once Colress had gone down the sidewalk past his home, Triste left the shelter of the tree and hovered close behind the wagon. It had a large board that had wordy papers, pictures, and graphs on it. Underneath it, there were some items for display and extra supplies. This wasn't a time with virtual computer storage, he realized.

It took them passing three houses for Colress to figure out something was different. The boy paused, then looked back to see him back there. "Whoa... oh, it's some Pokemon," he said, setting the handle to lean against the wagon's side. "You're different."

Triste moved his fingers through the air to say, "I don't know where we are, so I don't know if my kin have been here."

"You seem alright," Colress said, walking around the wagon. Even as a boy, he was too curious to pass up what could be a dangerous thing. "Certainly not afraid of me. What're you doing following me?"

"I'm here to help you," he said, then looked in the wagon. That was the first task: making sure Colress got the science project display to his school fair intact.

"Oh yeah, I can't be late," he said, going back to take the wagon and pull it along. "You can come, I guess. I don't have any Pokemon friends to bring to school like other kids. The last one I had wrecked a chemistry project I was trying out."

"I'll be careful," Triste said, watching the area around him.

At the end of the block, they turned to walk alongside another street. Triste could spot some other kids ahead, running behind a bush once they noticed Colress and his wagon. That would be it. In the meantime, Colress kept talking and didn't notice. "It's not that I don't like Pokemon, it's just that I have a hard time finding one that's calm enough to not want to run around constantly and knock over glass vials and such. I don't want to have to clean up a mess like that again. Still, I wonder what you are. I've really not seen another Pokemon like you before."

"Hey nerd!" one of the hidden boys called out, grabbing a fistful of muddy dirt and hurling it at the wagon. Triste immediately blocked it from hitting, then hurled the chunk of dirt back at the bully. Colress watched in a nervous manner, then surprise. "What was that for?" the bully asked, glaring.

The other boys behind the bush began laughing at their friend. Colress put both of his hands on the wagon handle, pulling it closer to him. "You were the one who threw first," he said.

"Quit laughing," the bully said, wiping the dirt off his face. "All right, nerd, you and your Pokemon are going to pay for that! Growlithe, burn that Pokemon and the nerd's dumb project!"

Colress immediately bolted, dragging the wagon behind him. Triste used Psychic on the Growlithe, easily knocking it out. The bully then tried a Houndour, which could have been trouble had Colress in the present not prepared him to fight Dark Pokemon. He knocked it out as quickly, then left the bully to get mocked by his friends.

Further down the block, Colress had stopped, breathing hard and shaking. However, it looked as though his things in the wagon were fine, untouched by the incident. Triste floated in front of Colress and touched his forehead. "It's okay. I took care of them."

"Did you stop them?" Colress asked, looking back. Seeing that he wasn't pursued, he sighed in relief, then hugged Triste. The boy's heart was still beating fast out of fear. "Thank you. Those guys like to pick on me. I can't win against them."

Triste allowed the hug for a little bit, then pushed himself away and pointed towards the school. "We still need to get you there."

"Oh yeah." He rubbed his nose and caught his breath, then smiled. "I'll be okay. Thanks for being my friend. I'll have to think of a name for you, and figure out what you are."

"I have a name," Triste said, then paused at a thought. Keeping his finger lights white, he traced letters to the human language in the air.

Colress watched and tried to catch it. "Rist... no... Tris.. te. Triste? Is that your name?"

"Right," he said, nodding.

"That sounds cool. Oh, but if you have a name, you must belong to someone else, huh?"

Triste put a hand to his mouth, then signed, "Well... sort of yes, sort of no. Not yet, that's the best way to say it." Then he pointed back to the school.

"But you're going to come with me anyhow?" After getting a nod, Colress nodded back. "Okay then. I'll have to get you back to your owner later. And thank them for having such an awesome Pokemon." He smiled again, then carried on taking the wagon to his school. Triste followed along, watching out for more trouble.

When they got to the road, there wasn't much traffic on it. Still, it did look dangerous. It was three lanes, with little more than warning signs that there was a school around. They looked both ways carefully before deciding when to take the wagon across. Other children were being brought to the school science fair by car, but Colress lived not that far from here.

A couple of hours later, the school science fair was open to the public. Colress had his display up in the middle of the gymnasium with the rest of the students. Since it was there, he was speaking with the teachers and visiting scientists about it. It included the troublemaker Umber, whom Triste watched in suspicion. However, Colress didn't notice that. He was excited by the science fair, having gone around to look at his classmates' projects and talk with some friends. This was genuine happiness, not a neutral curiosity and amicability. Triste felt thrilled to be seeing it in his partner, even if this was years ago.

After answering all the panel's questions and seeing them move on to the next display, Colress jumped around to look at Triste. "Did I do all right? I was worried because sometimes when I'm nervous or excited, people say I talk too quiet. And they asked me so many questions, some I didn't even think about. It would be really cool if I redid the experiment, but took into account the other factors. Maybe," he quieted down, his thoughts racing.

"I think that was good," Triste said. But then he had a feeling that there was more that he could do. To do it, he had to go somewhere else, and soon. "Sorry, but, I have to go." He pointed outside.

And he looked disappointed. "Oh, do you have to go back? I'm sorry for keeping you so long." Then he smiled again. "But thanks so much! I hope I get to see you again, with your Trainer, because I have all sorts of questions about you. Like how you seem to communicate with light; that should be translatable."

"Bye," Triste said, then waved.

"Oh, bye Triste," Colress said, then went to look for one of his school friends to share his excitement with.

Triste left the school building and flew high over the road. It was busier now, and some of the cars were moving faster. It really wasn't a thing one would want near a school; he wondered how it had gotten approved to be built there. Maybe it would change, or maybe it had from his perspective from the present.

Not far from the road, he spotted a pair that he knew were Colress' parents. He hadn't seen them, even in that memory while in his mind. But it was a certainty, as they stood out to him as being important in this time, for being his friend's parents. Triste came down near them and waved. "Hello there."

"Oh hey, look at this Pokemon," Colress' mother said, smiling. "What are you doing in the middle of town?"

"Probably belongs to someone nearby," Colress' father said.

"Yeah, I do," Triste said, floating with them to the road. But once they got within a few feet, he came in front of them and held his hands up. "Okay, stop right there."

They did, thankfully. "What's your...?" the man said.

And then a red car came barreling down the road, close enough to the sidewalk that Triste could feel the air moving off it. The woman yelped and held onto her husband. Before long, the car swerved and struck a lightpost. Once they got over the close call, Triste waved when it was safe for them to cross the road. The woman sat down on a bench outside the school, rather shaken by it; her husband was too, but he was trying to tough it out. A few minutes later, emergency vehicles came up. The police questioned them about the accident, but then they were free to go, having avoided the accident that should have killed them. Triste then followed them back inside to find Colress.

A few hours later, Colress was walking back home with his wagon, empty now except for Triste who was riding in it. And Colress' parents were there too, alive, happy, and proud of their son. He had won the top ribbon for the science fair, with quite a lot of praise coming from the two scientists on the judging panel. It was amazing; this should have been a devastating day for Colress, but he'd turned it into a happy one instead. Colress had even put the blue ribbon around Triste's neck, as an acknowledgment that the day could have gone far worse without his interventions.

But what did this mean for his time? Or what would come between, when Colress was meant to be raised and taught by Dr. Umber? What would Triste return to?

Then the wagon stopped. Triste floated out of the wagon and saw Dr. Umber there, along with a young man that somehow resembled the Shadow Triad while being entirely human. "Excuse me," Dr. Umber said, smiling a fake smile at them. "I meant to speak with you all earlier; I'd like to offer Colress here a special education to work with his keen intellect and talents."

"No, you shouldn't have him," Triste said, floating between the groups. The humans wouldn't be able to understand his lights, but they should understand his posture and expression.

"I don't know," Colress' father said. It felt like he might have gone along with it, but such a response out of a friendly Pokemon made him doubt Umber.

Umber tried to convince them; they fully refused him, saying they'd consider the boy's education options later on. Not accepting that answer, Umber simply grabbed Colress by the arm and yanked him away from his parents. Triste wanted to fight back to free him, but then the quiet man in black threw a dagger into the Beeheeyem's jaw, knocking him onto the ground. Colress called for him, but then a feeling of blackness overcame Triste. He'd fallen back into the crack in time.

Well, he changed things a little bit. Right? Now he just had to get back home. He went to pull the dagger out, but found that it was gone already. He was still bleeding, his head in a lot of pain from the injury. Triste tried to move, heading in the direction he thought his Colress was in. Images flitted in and out of his mind, like those memories from Colress. However, they seemed to be changing.

And he was weakening. No, he'd get back... no matter what, he'd get back. "Help?" He sent his lights out into the darkness, hoping to reach the Pokemon who had sent him back.

"Hey!" But that was the voice of a human girl. "You know the way home?"

"Th-that way," Triste said, pointing in the way he felt. She grabbed him, carrying him the rest of the way back. But, who was she? His consciousness seemed to be fading.

After a moment, he felt the familiar presence of Colress. Triste looked at him; he looked afraid and frantic because Triste was bleeding so badly. But he was back home with his friend. There was no question now that Colress cared about him.

Hoping that those feelings would lead Colress to chose the right way, Triste decided to trust him and rest.


	40. Yet Another World

Giant Chasm mystery dungeon

Thinking that this area would be like the Giant Chasm, Hilda and her Pokemon decided to go into the icy cave. They could meet up with the Kyurem of this world, who should recall things from N here based on what they had seen. If he couldn't help them back, he would at least know what Pokemon would be able to help. However, this cave was much larger than Giant Chasm. It was made up of large floors of sprawling hallways that connected small rooms that often had odd traps in them. Her Gothitelle Frank noted that the space here seemed odd, chaotic in nature even if it had a somewhat orderly appearance. It was quite cold, something that affected Hilda and Fedora greatly. But they tolerated it.

And the Pokemon were odd too. Few of them spoke, and what ones did spoke in a limited primitive fashion. Not even her own Pokemon could fully understand them. Animal-like in nature, they claimed certain areas as territory and acted defensively when they got near. The group tried to avoid fighting them too much as a result, although since stairways seemed to be the only real way to advance deeper into the cave, there were some fights that had to be picked.

On about the sixth level they had entered, they heard voices down a hallway. "Brr, it's getting even colder. We must be getting close, although I fear I'll freeze my tail feathers off before we reach it."

"You'll be fine. It's not that bad."

"Easy for you to say."

"Oo, is that gonna be some smart ones?" Mimi asked. "I hope they're nice."

"Only one way to find out," Hilda said, then cupped her hands around her mouth. "Hey buddy! Where's the stairs?"

"Haven't found them yet!" a sing-song voice replied. "Meet you halfway?"

"We'll see about that!"

"Who else would be down here?" the second unknown Pokemon said, just barely audible.

They walked down a short hallway into a decent sized room, one which held the stairs further down near one of the walls. There were a few trap squares that Hilda spotted in the room, including one shortly in front of the room entrance where the other pair came in: a Jigglypuff and a Chatot. The Jigglypuff perked up on seeing them. "Oh, hello there! Many friends exploring together, huh? Lots of fun." He came directly towards them.

"Yeah, something like that," Fedora said.

"Hey, watch your step there," Hilda said, pointing the floor in front of the Jigglypuff; he did stop before triggering it. "There's a trap right in front of you."

"Oh?" He looked at it, then kicked some snow to reveal some spikes that shot up. "Wow, scary. Didn't see that one coming. Thank you!" But he sounded more excited than worried about the trap.

"You've got quite a crew together," the Chatot said. "What're you doing in Giant Chasm?"

"We're looking for a big grumpy dragon, cause we gotta talk to him," Hilda said.

That made the Jigglypuff laugh. "Hey, I think we're looking for the same dragon! Want to join up forces? I'm Bartleby, and this is my partner Charlie."

"Yay, we'll have more friends!" Mimi said, smiling.

"Yeah, that'll be good," Hilda said, already thinking through how to explain further what they were doing for, if asked for that information. "Well I'm Hilda, and my crew here is Fedora, Mimi, Frank, Tarzan, and Olette."

Bartleby waved his hands happily. "Great, nice to meet you, new friends! Hey, are you a human Hilda?"

"That's nonsense," Charlie said. "Just because there's pictures of humans in some ruins doesn't mean that they exist. You don't have to put on such a silly act all the time."

"Well then how do you explain her?" Tarzan said. "She is a human."

"You can't be serious," Charlie said. "She's, um..." He put a wing on his chin in thought. "A Medicham?"

"Sorry bub, but I am a human," Hilda said. "It's no big deal. I'll be friends with anybody who wants to be friends. Come on, let's go before we get too cold."

"Yeah, I need to keep moving or I'll want to fall asleep," Fedora said, slithering down the stairs after her.

"Yoom-tah, let's go!" Bartleby hurried up too, followed by the rest of their group.

On the next level, they finally came to a large open cavern of ice so strong and pure that it scattered their reflections all around the room. In the middle of it, Kyurem seemed to be resting. But he opened his eyes as they approached. "What do you want?" he grumbled sleepily.

"Hello, hello!" Bartleby said, as cheerily as he had greeted them. "We've got some questions for you."

"And what makes you think I'll answer any?" Kyurem said. "Are you going to challenge me?"

"If we have to," Tarzan said, shaking a fist at him.

But Hilda held a hand up to the Scrafty. "Yeah, but I believe you owe me some help."

"Hmm?" He stretched his head out, then shook himself before sitting up. "Oh, it's you Hilda. I knew you'd show up sooner or later."

She nodded. "Yeah. So you should know that we need to get home, and I don't know how to use this thing." She tapped the bracelet with the orbs.

"Wait, wait," Charlie said, looking up at her with some suspicion. "You already knew him?"

"Don't just to conclusions, bird," Kyurem growled. "The six here with you are heroes from another world. They ended up in this world through accident, a very long time ago when an insane legendary was on the brink of destroying our world. Hilda managed to make him stop his destructive madness with nothing more than words. But as a result of him giving up his power, she and her friends ended up shunted to this time. Thus, I do owe it to her to get them home."

"Wow, that's amazing!" Bartleby said, while Charlie had his beak dropped open at hearing that.

"It wasn't quite that grand, but yeah," Hilda said. "That happened."

"Unfortunately, I'm not best suited to activating those orbs," Kyurem said. A sparkling light appeared in front of Hilda, forming into a stone ring. "What I can do is give you a key to the Dimensional Corridor where Giratina dwells. I'll let him know that he should help you, but it's up to you to get to him. Sorry, but there's rules which can't be broken."

She shrugged, then took the ring key. "It's all right. We were curious to see what the world turned out like anyhow. So how's this work?"

"Twist it into the right position, then it will form a portal to the corridor dungeon when tossed on the ground," Kyurem said. "Once you leave, the ring's power will be used up. Giratina's dungeon is deeper than mine, though, so prepare yourself well before entering."

"All right, we'll do that," she said, putting the ring key in her bag. "And these two had something to talk with you about too."

"Oh yes," the Jigglypuff said. "The Pokemon of the town nearby would like you to stop making ice appear in their streets. It's supposed to be spring, but it's still winter there."

"Yeah, why are you keeping everyone freezing?" Charlie asked.

Kyurem snorted. "That's not my doing. Someone took a Nevermeltice from my chamber not that long ago, without asking me for it. The ice that is near me has special qualities that make some crystals multiply when exposed to the moon. That's why I don't let them go freely."

"Then how do we fix it?" Bartleby asked, accepting that explanation.

"Find the one that came from my dungeon; it will have a glow that the regular Nevermeltice does not have. Throw it back in here, then have a number of Pokemon use Sunny Day to eliminate the unformed ice crystals. Anything that doesn't melt in an hour will be a normal non-multiplying Nevermeltice. Do whatever you want with those."

"Okay, thank you friend Kyurem!" Bartleby then turned to her. "Hey Hilda? Can we go to the Dimensional Corridor with you, after we fix the ice? That sounds like a fun place!"

"It sounds dangerous," Charlie said.

"Sure, sounds good," Hilda said with a smile.

* * *

As it turned out, Bartleby and Charlie were experienced explorers of the strange dungeons in this world, like Giant Chasm had been. They would be a good help in the Dimensional Corridor as well due to that. But they couldn't get supplies until the town's problem was fixed, so the six of them helped out with clearing the Nevermeltice problem they had. The ice was indeed thick and treacherous, like a strong winter's storm had recently passed through. But once the glowing crystal of ice was found and sent back into Giant Chasm, the problem was quickly corrected and the Pokemon could work on their spring tasks again.

The Pokemon town was definitely interesting to observe. More so than humans, each Pokemon had things they were very good at and things that they could not do at all. Alone, they would have a tough time making a living; it might be why there were so many thoughtless wild Pokemon in the dungeons. But as a community, the Pokemon could distribute tasks to those who could do them best and cooperate so that all would thrive. Everyone did their part because if not, they would fall out of the community's favor and have to live on their own. A Pokemon who tried to intimidate others with strength would be seen as a bully and not helped with tasks that might need intelligence. It all seemed very fair, with equality and respect given great importance. While it wasn't perfect, as evident from the wanted lists of criminals who took advantage of the system, the Pokemon seemed quite happy to live like this.

As pleasant as it was, they were needed back home. Hilda still had a good amount of spray medicines, berries, and other items that could be used to heal and strengthen the others; she couldn't fight like they could, but she was fine with playing a healing, support, and encouragement role in the group. Charlie helped her pick out and buy some other supplies that would help them get through a long dungeon like the Dimensional Corridor. After a day of rest and chatting with the town Pokemon, she led the group outside of town, twisted the ring around itself until it clicked, then opened up their way into the dungeon.

The Dimensional Corridor seemed, well, oddly ordinary. It had the same warped sense of space as the Giant Chasm dungeon, but appeared to be a perfectly normal human building. Each room and hall was normal looking, although the way they were arranged and the way different styles clashed was abnormal. A dull concrete hall with steel doors would lead into a richly decorated room of marble and gold. A school hallway, complete with many lockers, led into a messy garage. There were even some rooms and halls that reminded Hilda of N's castle, or her own home.

"This is one of the strangest dungeons I've ever seen," Bartleby said, looking over the red carpet in one hallway. "Soft and hard, cold and warm, and such strange furnishings!"

"A lot of it looks like human buildings," Frank said, glancing at a grandfather clock. "But most of them wouldn't have a fraction of this variety."

"Even so, humans must have a strange sense of interior design," Charlie said. "I mean, covering a whole floor in fabric? It's soft, sure, but it would be such a pain to keep clean."

After twelve levels of this, they came to a room like a palace, with many black marble pillars stretching up to the ceiling far overhead. It seemed empty at first, but then Giratina phased into the center of the palace. Made up of many body segments and legs, Giratina coiled around in the air until his head was close to the ground; his eye was as tall as Hilda was. "A human, in this world? Then, you must be the ones that Kyurem sent."

She nodded. "That's right. And you can help us back home?"

The immense Pokemon blinked. "That's right. But first, those that are native to this world must leave this space. We don't want any more unfortunate accidents. Unless you two had another reason to come." His eye shifted to look more directly at the Jigglypuff and Chatot.

"Um, did we have a reason for coming out here too?" Charlie asked.

"Nope!" Bartleby said with a smile. "Just wanted to see what we could see. Bye friends! Thanks for the adventure!"

Hilda nodded. "Yeah, that was fun. I can't wait to tell my friends about this, like making pebbles explode or anything we did." She chuckled. "Bye Bartleby! Have fun adventuring!"

"Always!" After an exchange of goodbyes, Bartleby and Charlie headed off to a teleport tile to leave the Dimensional Corridor.

"I think Kyurem could have sent you home with his own power," Giratina said, once they were gone. "But I know why he would have sent you to me anyways. I am Giratina, master of dimensions. I have many forms in many worlds, but I only have one self, existing in all at once. Therefore, it is simply a matter of bringing myself and you all to another dimensional place where I am."

"Right, and then I could give these back to you so they cause less trouble," Hilda said. "All right, we're ready to go back home!"

"Yeah, and find daddy!" Mimi said (she was still in the habit of calling Kyurem 'daddy', even as a Cinccino).

"We are there," Giratina said.

"This doesn't look any different," Fedora said.

"No, it changed," Frank said. "Like turning the page of a book, when the pages are invisible."

"Correct." Giratina blinked again. "And the orbs?"

Hilda took the bracelet off and held it out to his eyeball. "Yeah, you can take them. Though I'm not sure where to put them."

The orb bracelet lifted off her hand, then was flung into the air by an invisible force. "I've got them. Thanks for getting them back." One of his antennae bent down, then pointed between a pair of pillars. "Also, I've received a message from a friend. Celebi says that's your way back home to Unova. The path is dark, but once you step between those pillars, don't stop. Along the way, you'll find a Pokemon that can find the path's exit. Make sure to bring him along."

"Okay, we'll be sure to keep moving," Hilda said. "Thanks for the help back here, Giratina. Okay, ready guys?"

"Ready!" Fedora said, getting agreement and nods from the rest.

"Well then let's go home!" She started running through the pillars, not too fast as Olette was still out with them, but it didn't feel right to just walk.

Before long, darkness surrounded them. The only lights came from the floor, when their feet, paws, or belly (in Fedora's case) made contact. They had a feeling like time wasn't quite right here; they weren't back in the normal world just yet. And the only thing to do was keep moving.

Eventually, they spotted the Pokemon: a Beheeyem who was struggling to hover down the path as well. He had a pretty nasty wound on his face, near where his jawline should be, still bleeding and looking very painful. Some of the blood had even gotten on the blue ribbon around his neck. "Hey!" Hilda shouted. "Do you know the way home?" She grabbed hold of him as she got into reach.

"Th-that way," the Beheeyem said, pointing a little out of their current direction. Hilda nodded, shifting over there and continuing to run until they found what seemed to be a crack in the air itself.

They emerged in the middle of a farm. Abundant Shrine, from the looks of it. For a moment, time continued to be strange as she turned around, seeing that all of her Pokemon had made it too. Close by, there was Nate, looking in bad shape while an older man, Sage Ryoko, was trying to support him from fainting. A third man was close by, rather distinctive with some kind of computer device as a visor over one of his eyes. The third man looked pale and upset over something.

There was a silent snap and time reverted to normalcy. The crack that had been in the air vanished, perhaps repaired, perhaps shifted somewhere harmless. Giratina would know what exactly. As a result of the fix, Nate managed to get back on his feet, a little disoriented but not badly off this time. He looked over on noticing them and smiled. "Oh, Hilda, you got here too."

"Triste!" The blond man came over to Hilda, his attention on the Beheeyem she was holding. "Oh gods, I'm sorry, what happened to you?"

"He was in the dimensional corridor that I took back here," Hilda said, handing the Pokemon over. "Hey, is there a Pokecenter near here now?"

"For that injury?" Ryoko asked. "The best thing would be to go into Black City or Undella to the Pokecenters there. We don't have much here other than basic care and healing."

"I'd lend you a flying Pokemon if I had one," Hilda said. It was important to get this Beheeyem into a doctor's care fast.

Although squinting from the daylight, Nate took a Pokeball and released a Sigilyph. "Rune, would you take Colress and Triste to Black City's Pokecenter? Stay with them if they need more help."

"If that's what you want for them," Rune said, flying over to their side.

That made the man look guilty for a bit, but his concern over his Pokemon was greater than that. "You'd still help us? Thank you." Colress nodded to the Sigilyph, who soon vanished with them in Fly to get them to good care quickly.

"Okay, I really want to know the story behind that one," Hilda said, looking at Nate and Ryoko. Then she smiled. "Hey Nate! Good to see you again."

"I'd like to know this story too," Ryoko said. "Normally we don't allow many visitors here, but I'll make an exception for you. If you have time, please come into the lodge for a bit."

"I should really call some people first, let them know that I'm back," Hilda said. "How long's it been? A couple of months?"

"Fourteen months, I believe," Nate said, rubbing his head. "Also... where are we? I was in Driftveil coming out of the Tournament, and then I'm not entirely sure how Colress got me here."

"Sounds like both of you should make some calls first," Ryoko said. "But come along; I can get you something to drink and eat in the meantime."

* * *

Nothing else mattered at the moment. Colress strode into the Pokecenter the moment he appeared outside it, brushing past a couple to get to the desk. There were a few people waiting in line for the nurse, but that wasn't enough. "This Pokemon needs emergency care," he said to the nurse on duty.

"Yes, right away," the nurse on duty said, pausing in her normal work to allow him through the door in back. "The doctor should be with you shortly. Follow the nurse Pokemon's guide."

He was met in back by an Audino, who pricked its ears up then waved him into the closest room. The Audino pointed out one of the beds, then began doing some tasks at a low console nearby. For a brief moment, the thought flitted through his mind that it must take an extraordinary amount of training to get these caretaker Pokemon to handle technology. While it would have gotten his curiosity any other time, it barely distracted him as he put Triste in the bed.

A wound that looked like it was inflicted by a thrown blade... and a blue ribbon around his neck. Not the blue ribbon one would expect as an accessory on a Pokemon. This one glinted gold in spots and was given an elaborate but mass-produced bow, as one would expect of a prize at a small-scale competition. It stirred up memories in Colress' mind, but they didn't feel right. He didn't feel right at the moment. Maybe this was being sick with worry.

But then why did it also feel like he was being displaced? It was like seeing double, but through feeling. Colress put a hand on his head, then saw the ribbon and wound go out of existence briefly. But then they returned. It was like... a crack in space-time, leading to divergent timelines. But it wasn't the future that diverged, but the past.

His reason deemed that ridiculous. Time was hard to crack. But then, there were several Pokemon said to be capable of warping or even cracking time. Beheeyem? No, he hadn't read of that ability in them before, just memory manipulation such as when they removed his memories of being in that underground spaceship. Memory manipulation... some came into his mind and didn't seem right. Had Triste done that instead? But why?

Or had he? Because that ribbon was there, or not there, and Colress still felt displaced. Standing in two timelines at once.

The doctor came in and things continued being out of sync. Triste would need stitches for the dagger wound. Or the immediate theory was that he had been hit by some powerful Pokemon attack that distorted the fabric of time and space and he'd need some strong therapy to come out of it. In that, he couldn't deny that something was out of whack with time. He was indeed participating in two conversations with the same man at once. The doctor in one of those conversations took off the ribbon and handed it to Colress, telling him to wait in the waiting room in back here so that others didn't disturb him. And both versions sent him that way so work could begin.

Colress went to the other room and sat down in the chair, relieved that no one else was in here (in either version). He looked over the ribbon or not-ribbon in his hand. Once a bit of blood was cleared away, he saw that it was for first place at a science fair. At his school, which he had won years ago. Or had not and never got this ribbon. What was Triste doing with it? No, that wasn't the right question. What was the difference in memories here?

And that difference was Triste. Either he had been on his own, gotten his project display wrecked by some bullies, and heard of his parents getting killed before Umber took him in... or Triste had appeared, protecting him from the bullies, helping his parents get across the road safely, and even trying to stop Umber from kidnapping him. But the strange ninja that often worked for Umber had knocked Triste out of the air with a dagger. In that case, perhaps the uncertainty in space and time when Nate and his other self Ryoko met sent Triste back to the afternoon of that science fair, and then sent him back to the present after a few hours in the past and a few seconds in the present.

That seemed so unlikely. The chances of Triste getting to exactly the right moment and directly back must be hilariously slim. Unless there was an intelligence behind the move. But, why? Why go back in time and modify that afternoon? Umber would get a hold of him either way; it didn't make a difference.

Or did it?

Colress watched the ribbon phase in and out of existence until it started making him feel sick. He closed his eyes for a moment. How did he get out of this? It would be difficult to continue on like this. Maybe even impossible. One of these timelines was true and the other had to be false. But which? How did he decide? This wasn't something he had studied before.

"Why did I name him Triste?" he asked himself quietly. Two memories of the same moment came into his mind. One said that he named the Elgyem simply because he liked the sound of the name despite what it meant. That was what he thought was right, what he knew he thought all along. But there was another one that seemed just as real, saying he named Triste Triste because when he saw the Elgyem, the name came into his mind as something that fit, as if he'd already been named Triste. Which would mean that the Beheeyem had managed to get into the past and help him out back then.

Going somewhat on guesstimates, he logged onto the Plasma information network and searched for information on the human memory. A little down the list, he found a copy of a paper from Dr. Umber, on manipulating and altering memories in humans. Colress brought it up and skimmed it for vital data, which brought him to a line in the conclusion section. 'While this study has proven that it is possible to manufacture false memories in precise directions, it only stuck in one subject and I theorize that a strong enough reminder could lead the subject to unwind the falsehood. It may be possible to enhance the methodology used, but it was costly in time, resources, and energy. That cost will only rise to give the falsehoods more staying power. Thus, further research into this subject by myself and my team will be dropped.'

One subject. He checked the article again, but was unable to determine who that subject was. Or if it was even possible for himself to be that one subject. He had a feeling that at this moment, his memory having been tampered with was true and false at the same time. Until he could settle on which that was, he'd continue feeling displaced and stuck in two timelines at once.

It was nothing more than a feeling. That tempted Colress to dismiss the whole issue and tackle this in another way. Or, was it intuition? He normally didn't follow intuition blindly. It wasn't scientific, linking facts that weren't yet proven to be linked but seemed like they could be. But hadn't it been intuition that led him on this memory course in the first place? And possibly intuition that told him that he didn't have a lot of time to decide. If he didn't decide, it would fall out of his control and he'd have to take what he got.

What if staying indecisive affected if Triste would recover or not? If it did, he couldn't afford to be indecisive. Never mind that he didn't yet have proof. He had to find the true present by finding something that proved to him, without a doubt, which one it was.

And there was this physical proof: the blue ribbon from the science fair. That was another moment that was in a flux. To solve it, Colress did something he thought he'd never do: research his old school and see what happened when he attended it. While he found the school easily enough, its online records back that many years were not great. But he did find a contact in the school librarian, sending that individual a query about checking the old records to see that particular year. It might take some time; would the division settle itself by the time he heard back on it?

There was something else he thought of while looking at a picture of the school. His parents. Either they had been run over by a speeding car on that day, or they lived past that moment. Thinking on that made his stomach feel queasy. He could remember the horrible fear on hearing that they were in the hospital, and then dead. But, he could also remember a different kind of fear, being blindfolded and driven off somewhere far from them, not knowing if the ninja had attacked them too. Both felt real, but only one could be.

Colress tapped the keyboard of his Xtransceiver nervously, not yet typing something in. His parents... finding their fate made him nervous. He couldn't even explain it to himself. He was neutral in all things, keeping a role as observer and scientist. However, that flew out of his mind when it came to them. He normally just didn't think about them, accepting that there was no way back to them. But was that because they were dead, or because Umber made him think they were dead?

Before he could get himself to make a search on his parents' names, he got a reply back from the school librarian. Trying to put the surprise aside, he checked into the information found. Class rosters no (but there he was), club photos no (although he was in the science club photo), events... there was the science fair, and... his name, in first place, with a photo of the unblemished display on the table and himself grinning in excitement. And his parents, proud of him. And... Triste, hanging in the background, uninjured and watching him, pleased with how things turned out.

"It was him," he said quietly, feeling the displacement dissolve into nothing. The blue ribbon stayed there at his side. And he was sure that when the doctor came back in, he'd be talking about Triste having stitches.

What else did that change? Colress reviewed his memories, finding the planted ones easy to pick out now. The planted memories affected his personal development, so some later events were based off of falseness within himself. But the truth... he found that he had not been as cooperative with Umber as he had been in the timeline when Triste had not been at the science fair. Umber has still drilled a stance of neutrality and scientific observation into him, but only after the memory modification experiments. Before then, there were times when Colress was slow in the projects he was assigned to work on. He would even sneak time and resources to his own interests, such as deciphering the light language of the Beheeyem. And now that he remembered that, he could think of some of that research. The color and intensity of the light mattered, as did the way the Beheeyem moved its fingers while signing the words. With some more work, he might even be able to talk with Triste as freely as he did with other humans.

Since the timelines were decided on, Colress finally put the names of his parents into an internet search. And it didn't take long to find them. His father still did homebrew inventing, with a fair number of small devices to his name. And his mother was currently working for an organization that spread information on missing children, encouraged assistance on such cases, and supported the families who were searching for them. She was even one of its leaders now, and he knew why she was there before he even brought up her profile page with the group: she joined them because they could never find him, but the group had gone above and beyond the call of duty in trying to help. Now she did the same for other parents, sometimes unsuccessful, but it seemed it worked more often than not.

He wondered if he should send her an email, letting her know that he was alive. He wanted to. But no. Colress knew that an email out of the blue might be suspected. Some further searching of the organization's site gave him a DNA matching tool. He could submit his own; if he was still in the system, it should give an alert to his parents that it had come across a positive match. Then he could see them again.

Before he could look into what he needed to do, he got a message from Ghetsis, wanting to know where he was. He sent back a message, saying that he was busy. He didn't want to leave the center until he knew Triste was going to be okay. But he should have guessed that Ghetsis wouldn't accept that. The man sent back a message that Colress needed to respond to him in person, immediately. And that they were going to make another attempt to get Reshiram and the Splicer artifact.

Looking at that took his mind off the current problem he had. Ghetsis was determined to put that plan into motion, a plan that Colress had gone along with because he wanted to know if a specialized artifact could really fuse two enormously powerful legendary Pokemon together, and what the results would be. From the evidence he had pulled out of history and myth, the resulting dragon would be capable of destroying all of Unova in minutes, or even less. And that power could be getting into the hands of someone that he knew was unhinged with a megalomaniac inclination. The world could be changing at the drop of a hat.

"What was I thinking?" Colress said to himself, shutting off what he was doing and trying to recall his plans. He had to get control of this situation and mitigate the damage, and fast. But how to do that without ticking off Ghetsis, who already had control over Kyurem (because of his work) and the Shadow Triad (alive because he could help them)?


	41. A Horrible Lack of Weirdness

August 18

Opelucid

Reshiram felt uneasy. He wanted to put the recent battle out of mind. However, he knew it wasn't good to deny things that happened, even bad things. But the Shadow Triad had tried to instill doubt in himself into his thoughts. He was trying to reassure those around him in not having them worry about him overmuch. While he would admit that he was concerned and upset by these events, was downplaying the severity modifying the truth too much? And how much personality should he be allowed when he was one of three who maintained balance in this region? Kyurem had failed through emotions that had nothing to do with the power he represented. Could the same thing happen to him? Asking that kind of question put doubt into his thoughts, which he was pretty sure would weaken his power in time, so he wanted to avoid thinking about it. But did that mean he was lying to himself, which would also weaken him?

"Try to stay in the moment," Zekrom suggested mentally, putting a hand on his shoulder. She and N were still over in their visit.

"Is that really going to help?" Reshiram asked, looking over at the two brothers. After all, Hilbert was in terrible shape and Reshiram did not feel like he had done an adequate job of protecting and helping him. With everyone was being so careful to protect them, he also felt horrible in being inadequate at protecting himself and the power he was responsible for. But he was making things worse being like this. Yet this time, he found that his innate knowledge of truth couldn't sort out the situation he was in. If only he'd known things sooner... why hadn't the truth of Kyurem's situation come to him sooner? Were the personalities they developed over centuries enough to interfere with what he should have known the instant it became a problem?

No, some other power was interfering... and it wasn't what Team Plasma could accomplish, although they had gone far in obscuring Kyurem's presence. If Plasma was that cunning, they would have been able to obscure that telltale mist from around their ship too. Perhaps one of the other legendaries had some purpose in creating this situation? His sense for truth told him that that was mostly correct, but that if he pursued that line of questioning much further, he might make things worse in his current state of mind.

The jangle of an Xtransceiver brought his attention back to the room, where N had received a call. It seemed very important, a feeling that was confirmed when N said, "That, that's Hilda's number! She got back!" He flipped open the wrist phone to answer it.

"Is she?" Hilbert asked.

"Yes," Reshiram said.

"Hilda, it's good to see you again," N said, smiling and much of his attention leaving the room.

"N!" Hilda said from the phone. "How long has it been? I got back just a few minutes... no, half an hour. Had to call my mom first. But yeah, how long?"

"It's been three years since we've seen each other," he said.

She laughed at that. "Only that long? Sheesh, I'm well over a million years old now."

"What?" Hilbert asked, speaking up.

"Oh, Hilbert's there too? Hi Hilbert! Want me to patch you in?"

"Can't do that at the moment," N said, getting up to pull his chair closer to the hospital bed. "We're in the hospital in Opelucid because he's being taken care of here."

"Really? I'm gonna have to come over there and cheer you up sometime then, Hilbert. What happened?"

"Reshiram and I got caught in a fight against Ghetsis and the Shadow Triad," Hilbert said while N leaned on the bed and tried to make it easier to carry the conversation with only one line on the Xtransceiver. "I'll get out of this, once I can hold my thoughts together for very long. Now what do you mean by being a million years old?"

Hilda laughed, saying, "Well I am."

A voice from the other line could just be heard from where Reshiram and Zekrom were. "No, from what you've said, you only spent a relative time of two months in the other timeline. Then again, the way time wasn't functioning properly and then you being caught outside of it, it could have been anywhere from ten days to indeed over a million years that you were over there."

"Pfft, don't ruin my fun Nate," Hilda said. "I'm certainly older than dirt, since I saw the world being recreated. Oh yeah, N, I've got a really crazy story about that other self that tried to kill you a while back. I met him. I'll have to tell you later, though, cause it'll take a while. But he's doing all right now. Won't be following me back over to make more trouble, unless you catch his past self when he was still lost in time travel in this history. But then that's already happened and not much can be done about that."

"That sounds crazy already," N said.

"That's nothing. I'm guessing there's been a horrible lack of weirdness in your life since I left. I'll make sure to make up for that."

"So where are you now?"

"Abundant Shrine, with Nate and his other self, the one who's supposed to be the one in this timeline. Turns out that Nate's the Plasma Sage Ryoko, but I haven't got to hear that story yet because there's some crazy nonsense going on about some Neo Plasma having an airship they used to freeze over Driftveil and a guy called Colress who's been acting weird but I wouldn't be back if he was being normal... yeah, something's going on and we haven't got it straightened out, but I wanted to call you guys and let you know that I'm back."

"We heard about what happened to Driftviel not that long ago," N said. "It was on the news, that it's snowing all of a sudden there with the temperature dropping and the buildings covered in ice. But it proves that they do have Kyurem, on that airship."

"Yeah, I'm definitely going to be storming that ship after Kyurem, that is, once I have a better handle on what's happened over here since. We really should get back together soon, me and you guys, but I really need to call Bianca and Cheren too so that..."

"Cheren knows, he was in Driftviel when I called the others," Nate said.

"Well I'm gonna call him anyhow cause he's my friend."

"Maybe I'll come over there to hear what's going on," N said.

"Oh yeah, you should do that. That way, I don't have to be repeating all this for everybody. Or you can stay with Hilbert, whatever you want to be doing. Up to you. But I will be seeing you guys later, promise."

"See you then," Hilbert said.

"See you later Hilda," N said, then disconnected the call. He bit his lip nervously. "Well I'd like to go over, but if you're going to be up, you need someone to talk with to get better soon."

"Nah, you go on over there if you want," Hilbert said, sinking back into his pillow of the propped up bed. "I'm getting tired again anyhow. Although, isn't that where the other camp of former Plasma members are?"

"Yeah," N said, shifting his posture. "I didn't really feel like meeting up with them. I'm just not sure what to say to them, or how they'd react to me coming there. But if she's there..."

"Just go," Hilbert said, smiling. "You really want to see her again, right?"

He got out of his chair. "Yes. Thanks." N looked over at them. "What do you want to do Zekrom?"

"Are you going to be okay here if I go?" Zekrom asked Reshiram.

"Can't say that I will be if you go," he said, his nerves uneasy. "Or if you stay. But one of us probably should hear what they're talking about, given the news reports and what seems to be happening."

"Keep strong," Zekrom said, patting his arm before getting up to leave with N.

Once they were gone, Reshiram considered talking to Hilbert, but it was obvious that he was almost asleep again. Later, then. He looked down at the floor and absentmindedly kicked it. This human body was weak. But then, his own thoughts were weakening him and if those Shadows tried to come back for him tonight, Reshiram wasn't sure if he could fight them off well enough to resist, even as a dragon instead.

Then someone else walked into the room. Reshiram looked over and recognized her, a truth he normally never spoke about. Well that made sense of things. "It's your doing again."

"Do you trust the current group of heroes?"

* * *

Much to the surprise of everyone there, N showed up as Hilda was ending her call with Cheren and Bianca. It caused quite a stir in the lodge; Hilda had heard a comment that the former Plasma members here thought Nate was the Sage's grandson, which was a reasonable enough explanation. And then N walked in, followed by a lady with long black hair who was Zekrom in human form, as well as N's Zoroark friend Zane. Nate's Zoroark, who had come out with the others to check on their Trainer and hang out with the former Plasma Pokemon, went to playfully tackle Zane and the two of them were soon off in a corner talking with each other.

But the more interesting reaction had to be in the humans living at the camp. To be honest, it had surprised Hilda to see him too since she expected him to stay with Hilbert at the hospital. But those who once followed N were caught in a shocked awe at seeing him again without any warning. It drew in those who had been keeping a distance from Hilda and Nate. It could be seen on their faces, how they lit up with hope and admiration once they could confirm to themselves that yes, it was N here with them once again. The hero they deeply felt would help with their dreams for the future had just returned from a long time away.

However, his focus was on her. "Hilda!" he said, coming over to where they were sitting. "Sorry, we wanted to hear what was going on as soon as we could."

It was on the tip of her tongue to tease him for coming here just to see her sooner (because that's exactly what it seemed like), but seeing the people around her made Hilda hold back on that. At least until she could tease N without troubling his followers. "Well sure, but then are you going to explain where you've been for three years?" she asked him.

To her, it clearly made him nervous to do that. But N nodded and smoothed over his expression. "Sure, I can do that."

Thus they ended up speaking for the better part of the afternoon there in the lodge, with quite a crowd listening in and asking questions. There was a lot to explain, especially with the former Plasma members who didn't know much of what was going on. Some of them weren't even sure how N knew Hilda. Then there were others who may have been more confused with talk of an N from a different world, time travel, and even Neo Plasma. N finding a news report of it was the first many of them had heard of the freezing incident over in Driftviel a few hours ago, even though that news had been spreading like wildfire across the region, even out into the world. Many of them weren't interested in what went on outside of their farm and new life.

Nate left as evening fell, as he wanted to return to Driftveil to meet up with his friends. Hilda told him that there would be a meeting sometime tomorrow about what to do in rescuing Kyurem. While she wasn't sure when, where, or even how, she was going to find a place and get people together who could help do something about this. She could vividly remember how quickly he had been defeated, simply because she was put into danger and he was told that he'd changed. Hilda thought it would be a change for the better in that he showed more personality than just blunt vagueness. She was going to find him and tell him that he could be himself, especially now that Reshiram and Zekrom were back in Unova. And she wasn't too proud to ask for help to get him freed. After all, if you were going to do something others might see as crazy, you might as well go all out and make a major event out of it.

Of course, once Nate was gone, there wasn't much keeping N from talking with the people who had been waiting for him to come back for three years. Hilda felt a little out of place there, but she didn't want to leave either. Her presence was reassuring N and letting him talk to the others, at least it seemed that way. So she stuck around.

"Look, I'm really not sure what to say to all of you," N said after a little while. "Except, I'm sorry I dragged you all into trouble with Ghetsis. I really believed in what we were doing, but I wasn't told everything he was up to. And many of the times I spoke to you, either he had told me exactly what to say or I drew on what he was teaching me. I wasn't really a leader back then, and I've spent all this time trying to overcome what handicaps Ghetsis put into my mind to figure out who I really was. I'm still working on it; I hope we can all figure out what we should really be doing before long."

"It can take some people a lifetime to figure that out," Ryoko said. "But we're glad to have you back with us. We would like to work together with you, if you want to." The others in the room voiced their agreements.

N smiled shyly at that. "Thanks, all of you."

As it got later, both N and Hilda were offered a place to stay in the small cabins around the farm, where the Plasma people were staying. They accepted the offer; the cabins wouldn't be the most comfortable little buildings to spend the night in, but it was late to be trying to walk to Undella or Black City and find another place to stay in those high cost high demand cities. After the group broke up, N found Hilda outside, using her Xtransciever to find a place for everyone to meet up.

"What're you doing lurking around in the night, you creeper?" Hilda said jokingly. "You came here just to find me, right?"

"Yeah, sorry," N said. "And I'm not a creeper, at least I don't think so."

She chuckled and shut her Xtransceiver. "You're still a little too literal, naïve, and serious. But, it's better than you were at least."

Stopping a few feet from her, he rubbed his head under his hat. "Maybe. And thanks for not embarrassing me with them. Are you actually learning some restraint?"

"Maybe," she replied. "Or maybe it's because I don't mind teasing you, but I know some of those folks are still in a mess and I wasn't going to make fun of you in front of them. You're more than a hero to them, you know. I've heard some of them call you an angel."

"Well using Flash tends to make my body have a glowing aura; that's where that comes from."

"Oh, so it is literal?" She frowned. "Might want to break them of that gently. Don't need them holding expectations of you so high that you couldn't ever reach them."

"Not sure how, but..." N shivered. "Kind of cool tonight. Anyhow, I'm really glad to see you again. I got so worried after you stopped calling. Did I make you mad?"

"Oh, well," she tried to think of what he might be thinking of. "I have no idea, so if I was mad, it must've not been serious. No, it was more I stopped calling because they got us by surprise and there was nothing I could do to reach anybody. I encountered Nate soon after I arrived and he helped me out."

"And that's why you helped him get here first?"

"Partly. Weren't you listening?" She glanced around looking for something to demonstrate, maybe a Pokemon, but hers were all off elsewhere. Maybe resting or still playing with the locals. "His world didn't have any Pokemon at the time I arrived, nobody except for him and your other self. It was a wreck and Nate had more or less given up on getting out of that trap. However, he was convinced that the N he knew could fix things, so I couldn't pass up the chance to try straightening him out. Thankfully it worked."

"Well what if it hadn't?" N asked, some anger coming into his words. "You might not have been able to ever come back. And I heard that he got to have the power of all the legendary Pokemon from Nate. He could have killed you in an instant."

"Well you often have to take a risk to do the right thing." She shrugged. "And just about any plan was a risk once I got thrown over there. Using the orbs without knowing how could have sent me to any possible world. I don't know how many are out there, but finding my way back to this one could have been next to impossible." She looked up at his face and realized he was trying not to cry. "And you're just mad because you were worried about me all this time, right? You can trust me. If I get myself in trouble, I find a way out of it."

N looked down, defeated by that statement. "Well I knew you could do a lot of things once you set yourself to it. But even when I said I wouldn't worry about it, I was still worried. I can imagine a lot of bad things happening, you know. And, it hurt me to think that you were in trouble and there wasn't anything I could do about it. Once you were gone, well... a lot of the time, all I wanted was to be with you again. As much as you infuriated and confused me at times, I just... I just want to be with you Hilda. I want to help you, after you helped me so much."

Hilda felt uneasy at this. She never liked being serious, especially when it came to relationships. Plus, she still wasn't sure how Kyurem would take this (or even how he really felt). But she also didn't like seeing N upset like this; he was still very emotional without really understanding emotions, most likely. And he was her favorite target for teasing. She didn't want to let go of that any time soon.

"At the moment, I'm most concerned with helping Kyurem," she said. "He got in trouble because of me, so I've got to help get him out of it. But," she grinned at him, "I like infuriating and confusing you too. If you come along with me, it'll be that much more fun! Maybe we can go make out tonight."

"Wait, what?" N said, turning bright red. It may have been more from the shock rather than ignorance. Hilbert must have been telling him things.

"I'm kidding!" Hilda said, playfully punching him. "Unless you don't want me to be kidding. Then we might have to talk seriously about it and I hate getting serious, especially when I've got to be planning the hostile pirating of a mysterious air ship. Are you gonna help me with that?"

"Ah, sure, I mean, about the rescuing Kyurem and pirating the air ship," N said, still flustered. But he was cute like that.

"Good," Hilda said. "Oh, there is one thing, though. Ghetsis is probably going to be there."

"He definitely will," N said, calming down (though not in a good way; his shoulders and general posture looked tense just at the mention of the name). "I thought I was going to avoid talking with those who followed me until I had done something to stop Ghetsis finally. But, here I've already talked with some of them, and thinking about facing him soon, even to rescue Kyurem...well it's... it's snowing?" Puzzled, he held his hand out and caught a tiny snowflake.

"Hey, you're right," Hilda said catching another on her fingertip. "I don't think this can be anything but bad. And not just for these people's crops." She put her hands on her hips. "Well, you can't avoid him forever. And you shouldn't let fear of him decide what you're going to do with your life. Ghetsis screwed you up, yes, but you're perfectly capable of getting your life fixed, and you're far better off than you could be. Trust me; I had to talk to your psycho dragon twin from Nate's timeline and he was the one who won by Ghetsis' rules. Let your father know that you're stronger and better than he is. After all, you were the one who could call on the legends just based on the strength of your beliefs, and he can only advance by destroying those around him."

"But what if I freeze up in front of him again?" N said. "I couldn't stop him from attacking you."

"That was three years ago. Besides, he can't shock you like that anymore. You know that he's insane and wrong, and cruel about it. You're following your ideals in this."

"I am?"

Hilda nodded. "Yes. To stop others from hurting Pokemon, to teach others that they deserve equal respect, right? Well he broke Kyurem's spirit, and left your Seismitoad friend to die, among all the other things he's done to Pokemon. So as the Black King, you ought to stop him from being able to do that."

N rubbed his chin, his fingers eventually falling into a fist at the thought. "You're right. And he's been trying to break Reshiram's spirit too, probably so he can control them after he forces them to fuse together. It might still be hard, for me to face up to him. But I have to, or I don't deserve the role of hero and king that I took on." Then, with little warning, his face paled. "Wait... Zekrom!" He ran off.

Curious as to what would send him running, Hilda ran after him. Down in the trees near the cabin N had been given, they found Zekrom standing alone. Although the increasingly snowy air was still, her hair whipped around her like it was caught in fierce wind. Blue sparks snapped around her human body and her eyes were glowing a bright red. "Whoa, hey, what's with the light show?" Hilda called as they slowed down.

"Sorry, I got angry," Zekrom said, scowling. Then she put her hand on her forehead. "Not about you two. I felt your determination, N, and it's greatly reassuring. But, it also gave me back my clarity by snapping me out of the depressive funk I've been in. Neo Plasma has Reshiram, and the Splicer."

"They have both now?" N asked in alarm.

Blue sparks snapped between snowflakes. "Yes. This snow proves it, crystallized moisture falling despite temperatures well above freezing. It will build and grow until it coats the region in snow and ice, unaffected by season or the sun." Zekrom growled. "I would like to go after them and blast their ship straight out of the sky."

"But won't Kyurem and Reshiram fused together be stronger than you?" N asked.

Zekrom snorted and turned to him. "I don't fear that. I know the strength of your heart, N, and that empowers me. Neither Reshiram nor Kyurem will be able to rely on the strength of a hero's heart like I will. And if it is to free them, I will fight them."

"Yeah, and I don't think they can break her like they did them," Hilda said. "You told me they were tying to make Reshiram doubt himself by pointing out when he dodged truth because his personality and wishes interfered. They got Kyurem in a similar way, by catching when what he was doing conflicted with his power of neutrality. But Zekrom here is pissed because they took her family from her. I know you know about Ghetsis, but you still care about Hilbert?"

N nodded. "Yes, he's my brother and friend. Family is important."

"And is that a good enough ideal to follow?"

"It's one of those that I personally feel close to," Zekrom said. "If I did go in pursuit of them, it is perfectly in line with my power to do so. Although, not as wise as waiting a couple of days to see what she comes up with to punish them instead."

Hilda laughed, clapping her hands. "I'll make a grand show of it, so that no one doubts! I just hope I can get enough costumes in time."


	42. Icy Summer

August 18

Driftveil

It was almost evening and Driftveil was still in a state of icy winter. It was the strangest thing. One could leave on Route 6 north and find a rainy forest, filled with dark green summer leaves. Or go out on the bridge and enjoy a warm sunset stretching out across the waters of the bay. But right here, it was snowing into the green grass.

Nate was still over at the Abundant Shrine, but he said that he'd come back later on and get supper with them. For the time being, Curtis invited Rosa over to his hotel room. The hotel had gotten their furnace going, so being inside was still comfortable. Their Pokemon came along with them, including Patience. And, Rosa was still a single-horned pony-like Pokemon, having knocked her orange hooves on the entrance mat to knock snow off them when she came into the hotel. That made Curtis feel a little awkward. He had hoped that he'd get a chance to talk with her, but this made things different.

"Well your memory as Keldeo was connected with that sword, right?" Curtis asked, sitting on the couch. "And you didn't change into Keldeo until it was in your hands. Could you put it back? Even just thinking about it?"

"Think that would be enough?" Rosa asked, tapping one of her front hooves. Then she was absorbed by a light similar to how Pokemon evolved, or how Reshiram and Zekrom shifted forms. When Rosa reappeared, she was a human again, fully clothed (thankfully) and sliding the tiny version of the sword back in its necklace scabbard. She smiled. "Good, that worked, and then," she pulled the sword back out, turning back into her Pokemon form. "Well I guess I can't use the sword on its own again, but this is better. I could run across water if I wanted to now!" She changed back and giggled when she appeared, putting her hand on her chin.

Curtis smiled. "Yeah. And it makes you pretty unique, then, a Pokemon training other Pokemon..." the Glaceon stepped between then and whined, her brown eyes pitifully sad.

"Oh, I can still understand you," Rosa said, kneeling down by Patience to pet her. "Don't worry, Patience. Nate is okay and he should be coming back before long."

"Huuu?" She still seemed sad.

"I'm sure he'll still like you like this," Curtis said.

Rosa laughed. "That was about right! And yeah, he's not going to give up on you, I know it."

"I guess humans and Pokemon can understand each other better than we think, at least when we try to listen," Curtis said. He glanced over at River, who had hopped into the couch to sit beside him. "I don't know if we can explain what happened to you any time soon. And what about River? Why'd you change?"

River said something, to which Rosa translated, "She's not sure herself, just that she wanted to protect Patience and somehow changed into a stronger form to do so, without thinking about it. So it was like evolution, but not because you didn't stay like that?"

River nodded. That at least was understandable without trying.

Curtis touched the necklace she was wearing now, the deep blue stone that seemed to be flecked with bits of steel, set into a pendant that was hanging from a short black cord. "This is the only thing that was really different about her, I think. We'll definitely have to ask Clay about it, if it did have anything to do with what happened."

"Maybe I had something to do with it?" Rosa asked. "That happened after I turned into Keldeo. That stone makes me feel something, but I just have this feeling that it won't affect me, but I can affect it." She shrugged. "I don't know. I don't remember enough as Keldeo yet." Medusa floated over and said something to her. "I'm sure I could. And yeah, Terrakion's an expert in stones, so he might be able to tell us."

At that moment, River tugged at Curtis' arm. She gave him a look that seemed to say that she knew this wasn't working out. Then she pointed over to the sliding door that led to the hotel balcony, then a general indication of the other Pokemon in the room. She could handle them.

The Lucario certainly understood him well, Curtis thought. He hadn't even told her about his intentions, yet she knew them. "Thanks," he said quietly, leaning close to River. Then he got up and went over to the balcony. "It won't do any harm, so we don't need to figure it out right away," he said. "Hey Rosa, come over here. You ought to see the view up here."

"Is it nice?" she asked, following him over. Bard nearly came out as well, but River was quickly out of the couch and in front of him, not letting the others interfere. "It is cool out here still."

"We still have our coats, so it'll be all right," Curtis said, shutting the balcony door and giving another gesture of thanks to River.

He had been given this suite as part of the deal for being the event announcer, both today and tomorrow during the exhibition matches (if those were still going on; he hadn't heard from Clay what the plans were yet). But if he had the choice, he would probably try to get it again in part because the view was great. It was at the southeast corner of the building, so the stadium was down below. But past that, the bay stretched out to the ocean to the south. A golden red beam of light stretched out across the waters from the setting sun. And just in view, they could see the Driftviel Drawbridge gleaming its powerful red over the water. Or maybe a room on the east side would be better, as there would be a better view of the bay and bridge, with the Nimbasa area just in view.

"Hey, you can see so much from here," Rosa said, going to the railing and leaning on it. "All we could see from the rooms Nate got are buildings around here. Though it'd better if the weather was consistent." She looked over at him when he stood by her. "Today's been crazy, but I still think it was great! I wasn't expecting to see you at the stadiums. I'd even looked into the Christoph fan sites yesterday and there wasn't anything about it."

"I'm surprised that Clay let me keep the job," he said. "He'd been discussing it with my manager and they'd been getting fed up with each other, but I told him that I'd like to do it. But that was before I ran off. When the police took me into protection, word somehow got to Clay that I was with them and he asked if I still wanted the job. Because of the police, it was up in the air until just last night if I'd do it or not, so I didn't let news of it out."

"Well it's a nice way to come back out in the public eye," she said. "Do you still have them watching you?"

They had told him to act naturally, but that did have him a little worried about talking with her. Although, they probably understood. "Yeah. I know it's not always obvious, but there's a couple of undercover bodyguards that have been around me all day. That's partly why I didn't follow you guys on the ship; I knew I wouldn't hear the end of it from them if I did. Well that and it was probably more help for just River to show up too."

"I don't think you would've been bad there," Rosa said. "Although, you might've been restricted to just Spectra and River. With as many people were there, a Snorlax wouldn't have much room to join us."

"A Snorlax might sink the ship," Curtis said, not really meaning it but it made her laugh. "I would like to help you out more. Which is weird; I have a lot of resources, but nothing that could really do much."

"Don't worry too much about that," she said. "I just like being around you and I'd like it if you could just be Curtis and come along with us." Then she giggled. "Kinda funny, huh? Cause before we ever talked, I thought you were a star and out of reach of everybody but other stars. But now I find it hard to think of you as Christoph, since you've been close by as just our friend and a normal person."

He smiled; it was hard to see her now as anyone but Rosa. But, she wasn't. "I like that about you, and Nate. You treat me normally, as a friend. Although, I'd rather if, I could say that I loved you."

Her eyes widened and it seemed like the cold didn't matter as much. "Really? You love me?"

"Well, I... I do, but I kind of don't want to as well."

"Why not?" she asked, rightfully confused.

He put a hand on the railing and looked at it, trying not to look at her and be swayed closer to her. "Well, because of what happened to Kyurem. I guess I didn't really realize what it could do to you until I saw you appear at the port as a Pokemon. Then it was impossible to deny as being real, and I remembered that story Nate was telling us the other day, about how legendary Pokemon that came into contact with humans and fell in love would lose some of their power. And even if you have your form back, you haven't really recovered from what Umber did to you last lifetime, right? I don't want to make it harder on you." He rubbed his head. "I probably shouldn't have said anything, but then I look at you and it's hard to deny being in love."

Rosa frowned. "Oh, that story? I think it was more about losing our identities as being a single focused power. But it's not all bad; it's more like moving from a very small personality with a simple trait or two, and then growing a deeper one with many traits. Love just speeds that process along, I think, because it gave us a focus outside of ourselves." She leaned closer to him, trying to look in his face. "Okay, that's just what I'm thinking when you say it. It's not bad."

Curtis looked over at her; she wanted him to be happy, it looked like. Maybe even to where she'd dismiss the danger? "Are you sure about that?"

Rosa smiled. "I don't care. We can ask Zekrom when we see her next; she might have a different view of it than Reshiram."

"Yeah, it seems more fitting from her. But then, isn't it also kinda of weird because I'm human and you're a Pokemon? You're not even those half-breed gijinkas; you just look like a human."

"How's that weird when I'm in a human body most of the time?" she asked, holding a hand up as if to prove that. "I mean, if I was in my Pokemon body, then yeah, that'd be weird of us. But it's all right like this, right?"

"I hope so. I'm not sure I'd want to try kissing you like that." But that this moment, he would like it.

Their Xtransceivers rang at the same moment. "Oh geez, could he have worse timing for that?" Rosa said, making Curtis laugh. But as she thought, it was Nate. After a moment, they answered. "Naaaate, why'd you have to call right now?"

From the ice-coated tree in the background of his Xtransceiver, he seemed to be back in Driftviel. "Because I just got here? What, were you two going to kiss?"

"What?!" Rosa asked, although that made them both turn pink.

"Seriously, are you keeping a hidden psychic talent from us?" Curtis asked, brushing his bangs aside.

Nate chuckled. "No, I noticed that you two are on the same balcony and you answered less than a second apart. Sorry. Want to get dinner with me, or would you rather be alone?"

After a moment of uncertainty, Rosa said, "We'll come down to eat with you. Besides, you've got to see Patience! That'll surprise you!"

"She evolved into a Glaceon?" Nate guessed.

"There you go again," Curtis said. "You are psychic." But he was laughing too. He probably had some kind of reasoning that would make sense when he explained.

And, he did. "Since I wasn't around her, that made most sense of her being picked out as surprising me, her evolving. And because you all said that Kyurem was aboard the Plasma frigate and that the ship had blasted the city with ice, Glaceon simply makes the most sense of her changing to fit within the current environment."

"Maybe not psychic, but you're definitely too good," Curtis said. "Where do you guys want to eat?"

Even if his attempt at this was put off until he could find another time to be alone with Rosa, he was still going to be with his friends. That made the day good.

* * *

Everyone said that it was going to be okay. Rosa, Nate, River, even Bard said that Nate wouldn't be disappointed. But Patience knew that bad things could happen without warning. There was a chance that they could be wrong and were just trying to make her not worry. They were nice people like that. But the one that mattered was Nate, and she couldn't be sure how he would react. Maybe she should tell Rosa to tell Nate that she had done it to help another Pokemon in trouble. She wasn't trying to make trouble this time; she was trying to fix it.

"Over here," Nate called as they were walking down the icy street. Patience looked over, her ears tilted down and her heart thumping nervously. He looked tired, not moving much even though it was cold. Nearby, Ruby and Signet were keeping a close eye on him; something must have happened to him too. He looked down at Patience, making her quiver and stop midstep. Then he smiled and knelt down, waving her to come closer. "Hey Patience; I got worried when I found you missing. You're looking beautiful now."

He had been worried too... and he liked how she'd changed? So there had been nothing to worry about after all. She ran over to him happily and licked his face. "I should've known, sorry," she said.

Nate had already been a great deal better than most of her other Trainers. But now she knew that he was her favorite Trainer of all.

* * *

August 19

Neo Plasma frigate

Triste was going to be in rough shape, but he would live. The doctor had to use stitches to close up his wound. However, some of the muscles around his jaw had been damaged. If he'd still been an Elgyem, that could be trouble as he'd have to keep Triste from trying to talk. But he was a Beheeyem, and thus did not rely on vocals. The main issue then would be getting him soft foods that he didn't need to chew. He would be staying in the Black City Pokecenter overnight, given intensive treatments to try to speed up the healing process. Then Colress could bring him back to the ship.

Still, it didn't feel right to not have him following along on his work. Even before the events of today... or rather yesterday as it was getting to be the early early hours of the new day... even then he'd been used to Triste always being there, trying to follow along in what he was doing. Colress tried to keep himself busy, which wasn't hard to do with all that he was being asked to do. But there was still that nagging feeling of worry.

Whether that was worse than Ghetsis being naggy was a tough question to answer. Colress was currently doing a quick examination of one of the Shadow Triad. In particular, a postmortem exam; the male Shadow had taken a blow from Keldeo that should not have killed him, but it did. He had watched the security videos closely and knew that they had survived damage like that before. "I might need to perform a dissection to know the exact reason," he said. "But the way the skin on his torso looks, the burns from Reshiram several weeks back haven't healed properly. It may have compromised his innate defenses against the power of Pokemon moves."

Yet he could remember seeing that his burns had healed, without these scars remaining. That was prior to the tournament, and the reason why he had given approval for the Shadow to be on active duty on the ship. Not that they ever took a break, even when they should. Did some pieces from the false timeline remain? He did remember something that might explain it from in his studies under Umber.

"I thought Keldeo was supposed to be weaker in this lifetime," Ghetsis said. "And not able to transform from that girl like that. Umber told me about it."

"That may simply be a sign that there's still things about the immortal Pokemon that we don't understand," Colress said.

Except, he did understand and he knew why Rosa had been able to do that. It was the difference between an orphaned boy who was grateful to his new strict caretaker and a kidnapped boy who was fearful but defiant of the same caretaker. Parts of Colress' scientific training was research that led Umber to be capable of creating the Shadow Triad and handicapping the power of an immortal. When he viewed it believing he was an orphan, his work had been steady and gave Umber the full knowledge he needed. When he viewed it believing he was kidnapped, he had been willfully slower and been punished as a result, leading Umber to be uncertain of some facts.

Which led Colress to think that the past that he formerly held as true had been true, up until Triste overwrote it with his new past. The overall integrity of recent history seemed to hold up, as there were many things that were exactly the same. Yet the Beeheeyem's actions had caused ripples, which might be showing up as these wrinkles where Rosa could suddenly do more than she used to be capable of as Keldeo. The ripples also changed the injuries of this Shadow and killed him.

Or maybe the Shadow Triad had falsified their male member's recovery in order to keep working as a group. He wouldn't put that past them. They didn't have normal emotions, but Colress was almost certain that they had a powerful pride. In the most part, they did deserve the pride. But then this was the result.

"Is that lacking going to affect Kyurem and Reshiram while they're fused?"

That wording, while. The fusing had already been done. Only two of the Triad had gone after the Splicer after the battle in Driftveil, obviously. They had managed, but were badly injured yet again because in order to get it, they had to go into the Dragon Gym and Drayden's dragons were not pleased to have unknown trespassers in their home territory. The two women would probably survive. Probably, if they kept out of battles for a while. Colress had a feeling that they wouldn't heed his advice, again.

And Reshiram... apparently, they hadn't had much trouble getting the white dragon captured. The back-up plan had worked; letting him stew for a while with those doubts and his partner severely injured had compromised his ability to defend himself. It made Colress feel sick with guilt because his plan and theory had worked. Even worse, the guilt wouldn't let him forget that not that long ago, he would have been proud to hear about the 'success' in breaking the spirit of a legendary Pokemon.

But he'd delayed in coming back to the ship to make sure Triste was okay, then got yelled at by Ghetsis for being away during the ship invasion (at least he kept out of suspicion for starting the whole incident with the self-deleting message, all for the sake of running a test on his personal study), then was ordered to review the tapes from the invasion to determine what had gone wrong and why, and then ordered to examine the Shadow here... and that left him too busy and distracted to stop Ghetsis from using the Splicer on the mind-controlled Kyurem and the depressed Reshiram. The imbalance between them led Kyurem to taking control, and Ghetsis held the key to controlling Kyurem's thoughts and actions. This was a mess and it was getting beyond his ability to get back control. After all, he was only the figurehead leader of Neo Plasma.

At least, beyond his ability alone. If he had some help, and he knew exactly who could pull it off, then things could still be salvaged. "If your control hasn't broken yet, I doubt it will at all," Colress said, getting ideas of how to break it.

* * *

August 19

Join Avenue

On the day their battle plans were to be drawn up, they met inside the last empty stall of Join Avenue. As the owner, Nate was able to get the booth screened off with sound blocking partitions, then furnished with a large table, many chairs, a projector for the back wall, some cabinets, a miniature fridge, and a model globe. "This progression towards a conurbation in this area is actually incredibly good for a shopping model like this one," he said when Hilda asked him about the building. "There's a strong chance that many of these tiny shops won't last all that long; I've already had to take responsibility for the first one, the vending booth at the end there, because its starters lost interest. But the shops provide convenient goods and services while boosting the local economy."

"But how did you, from another world, manage to build this in such a short amount of time?" Hilda asked.

He rubbed his head. "Serendipity. It was built by someone who was trying to profit off a venture not intended to succeed, through complicated finances, and I happened to walk through at the right moment. Haven't heard back from the man, so I don't know if he's happy with me or irritated that I'm making it work. The people are happy, at least."

"That is a good point. With this many people working and shopping here, maybe this place kept you from getting kicked from the world entirely."

Nate shrugged, then spotted a familiar face coming through the crowd. But it wasn't one of the people that had been invited to this meeting. It was Colress, minus his usual computer visor today. Instead, Triste was hanging onto his shoulder, behind his back. The alien-like Pokemon had bandages wrapped around the lower part of his head and top of his neck, but he seemed perfectly content to ride along.

Hilda recognized them too. "Oh hey, it's the weirdo and his alien from yesterday," she said cheerily, waving to them. "How's he doing?"

From Colress's shoulder, Triste made his finger lights flicker. "Hello, both of you. Yes, he's out of the Pokecenter's care. It's going to be some time while I nurse him back to health, but I'm sure he'll come out of it fine. And I'm glad we managed to catch you both here. I need to talk with you."

"Yes, but we're having a meeting in a short time," Nate said, uncertain of if they should invite Colress. His actions yesterday were contradictory in ways, suspicious in others.

Colress nodded and produced a large spiral-bound book from his bag. "Yes, I know of that. I would ask to join, but at the moment, I need plausible deniability."

"You sound like my kind of person already," Hilda said, grinning. "What for?"

"Reasons. Here. I hope this helps you." He handed Nate the notebook.

"Thanks," Nate said, thinking it might be from Colress' Pokemon training study. It was a little odd seeing him with it so soon... but then he opened up the book and saw what it was. "Wait... where did you get this? It's the blueprints for Plasma's frigate airship, isn't it?"

"Whoa, really?" Hilda said, peeking at it. "I would've winged it from a general plan, but this'll help, definitely."

Colress put a hand on Triste's, perhaps to keep him from saying something Hilda might understand. "Ask me when Triste is better; if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have just given you that. I can let you in on a few other things too. The Splicer artifact was used once in the past in order to fuse Kyurem and Zekrom together, but there really is nothing to stop someone from using the artifact to fuse all three dragons back into one. However, then there comes the problem of controlling the dragon that results from said fusion. If the three are out of balance, which they currently are, there would be very little chance of controlling them from going off in a rampage unless one has access to the old methods used to commune with the original dragon. You're going to want a back up plan with that potential around. And one last bit: they know the dragons are out of balance because they manipulated that imbalance, and thus they will choose to be in a place where the dragon that holds the most power at the time is most comfortable."

"You had better explain yourself one of these days," Nate said. "But we'll take this into consideration, thanks."

"No, this is in thanks to you both for letting me get him into the proper care so quickly, even if I was the cause for what happened," Colress said. "And maybe other reasons. Have fun with what you're planning." He then went back to join the crowd, as if he hadn't done anything all that important.

Nate shrugged. "I'm not sure what he's up to, but seems he's not all bad... though maybe up to no good at the same time."

"Definitely my kind of person," Hilda said, grinning. "Well if the devotion of his Beheeyem is any indication, he can be trusted, doubly so since we helped them out. This is just getting better by the moment. I hope they have cameras; I wanna be able to show Kyurem later on."

Nate flipped a few pages, then pointed to part of the blueprints. "Looks like they do."

A short time later, their meeting commenced with Hilda, N, Zekrom, Nate, Rosa, Curtis, Cheren, Bianca, Iris, Drayden, Hugh, Rood, and some others from the former Plasma group. Hilda referred to the group as pirates the whole time, and nobody tried to argue it with her. Or take charge of the group over her. They were out to rescue Kyurem and Reshiram now, no matter what it took. Zekrom was still in the mood to blast the ship out of the air with her lightning, but Hilda had other ideas.


	43. Anti-Pirate Protocol

The unseasonal icy weather continued to build all over Unova. Temperatures were still above freezing, more suited for jackets than coats. But the snow and ice stayed stubbornly, refusing to melt. Now Opelucid and Lacunosa were both frozen over like Driftviel, with tall spires of ice crystals rising from the ground. The spires were arranged in a splash pattern around the points where the Plasma frigate air ship had been shooting its cannon at. If it kept this up, Unova was going to look like an arctic region before long. Maybe even truly feel like one too, as average temperatures were slowly but steadily declining.

Hilda's pirate group met at the southern lip of the crater of Giant Chasm. This area was no different than it was in the middle of winter: the snow was already thick on the ground, heavy on the trees. Ice gave a sparkling quality to everything and it was not too far from freezing here. A lot of the trees in the bottom part of the crater were damaged, knocked over to leave a flat area where some helicopters might be able to land. Or a single frigate airship, which was currently hovering twenty feet in the air while refueling. Knowing about this fueling station was a huge advantage in getting this done quickly.

And everyone was dressed for the occasion, as pirates. Even Drayden, who had added a copy of his gym's badge onto the green jacket. They did have to keep the uniform warm to keep out the crater's cold, but the green, white, and gold uniforms still had an elaborate marine style that any pirate would appreciate. Most of them were the same, just with minor personal embellishments: long jacket, pants, a striped shirt, bandanas with signs of the three legendary dragon, and boots that worked for this environment.

There were a few exceptions. Some of the girls, Hilda, Rosa, and Bianca, had added corsets and had different cuts to their clothes so that the party had some 'saucy pirate ladies' along (she'd offered to add Iris to the group, but she declined that in favor of wearing various League badges on a sash). Zekrom took it a step further on her own accord: her uniform was black and gold with small green accents (and spikes; she seemed to like that). On the other end of the modesty scale, Curtis was wearing an oversized white and gold hooded cloak, as his role in this was rather different.

Although some expected Hilda to be the most elaborate there, the one dressed as their captain was N (Hilda claimed that she was going to be the first mate instead, once they got possession of the ship). He had a green and gold overcoat that looked like it could have come from old-fashioned aristocracy, along with embellished boots, white gloves, and a sea captain's hat with long feathers from Rune. "This fits perfectly," N said the moment he saw Hilda that day. "How long have you been planning this?"

"The mission?" she asked innocently. "Just a few days. I have some connections, and Curtis has some more that got it all together that much faster."

"I mean the outfit," N said.

Hilda grinned. "Maybe longer than that? Or maybe that's not the outfit I wanted you in and I just happened to have good measurements on you."

"I think we should discuss that later," he replied.

"I feel a little embarrassed," Bianca said. "You wear this much better, Hilda. But I really couldn't pass up on the fun."

"You look good," she reassured her. "And it will be worth it." Then she pulled her friend in closer and added in a whisper, "Already is worth it to see him dolled up like that."

"But it would be better in the other outfit," she whispered back, making them both giggle.

Not far from them, Curtis had some binoculars he was using to observe the crew. "They've disconnected the fuel line now... it should be closed up shortly."

Hilda nodded. "Good."

"Do you have the shield generator targeted?" N asked Zekrom.

Her eyes hadn't left the ship for the past ten minutes; she nodded. "They haven't activated it yet. I can take it out easily."

N then looked over the group; most of them had Pokemon capable of flying them at least a short distance: Nate with Rune the Sigilyph, Rosa with Grim the Swanna, Drayden with a Druddgion (who could make it in a single leap, most likely), Iris with the same, Cheren with an Unfezant, Bianca with a Swoobat, Hugh also with an Unfezant, himself with Hilbert's Braviary Regal, and Hilda would be borrowing Nate's Golurk Signet to get over there. Rood and his crew from the camps would be tackling the ship from another angle.

"Are our Pokemon and Trainers ready?" When he got positive responses from both groups, he shifted his hat and turned back to the ship. "All right, then, we're taking down that ship and claiming it for our own. Zekrom... FIRE!"

A bolt of black lightning tore through the air, striking the frigate in two locations: near the back lift engines that kept the ship aloft and up near the top where an otherwise innocuous square of metal sat. The back engine immediately sputtered out, causing the front engine to whine as it attempted to keep the ship in the air. The whine then turned to a sharp crack and the ship crashed to the ground. Before the dust reached them, N's crew took to the air and landed on the deck.

There were half a dozen of the black-clad Neo Plasma members up there, already concerned about the ship getting knocked out of the air with little warning. Others were coming out of the lower decks, along with smoke from one of the stairways. They stared at the group of them in disbelief and shock, more so when N strode forward, shouting, "Neo Plasma, stand down this instant! I am N and I've come to take control of this ship from you. Resist at your own risk."

"Wait, N, you, what?" one of the nearest Neo Plasma members sputtered.

"I don't think we're supposed to listen to the traitor," another said, but looked warily at the Trainers and Pokemon with him, all with varying degrees of fame in the region.

"You want to challenge us?" Drayden asked in a manner that made them back up.

Then someone appeared in the center of the deck, having teleported a few feet from N and the others. To the surprise of some and expectations of others, it was Colress, with Triste along as always. His computer visor covered one eye, but the other had dark rings under it. "What in the name of the gods is going on up here?" he demanded grouchily.

"Um, well, these people are trying to take the ship from us, I guess?" one of them said.

Colress frowned and put his hands on his hips. "Yeah, I can see that. And? Why aren't you fighting them off? The anti-pirate protocol is in the manual for a reason."

"That was in the manual?" another one asked, although a few were quicker on the uptake.

"I wanted to have anti-piracy drills, but no, they said it was a waste of time and money... bah, get on with it!" Colress yawned, then shook his head as if he wasn't entirely awake.

"Geez, like this is going to be a challenge," Iris said. Soon Pokemon battles were breaking out around them.

N had heard that this man had helped them out. But to find him here and now? Wondering what his purpose was in all this, N asked, "Are you the leader of this group?"

"I'm the leader insofar as I own, modify, and maintain this ship," Colress said, rubbing his head. "Among other research. But for making the actual decisions, nah. Otherwise, I wouldn't be cracking open caffeine drinks for five days straight. Which reminds me, damn you for wrecking the engines. That's even more work on my plate, especially since we're caught out of the water needing repairs." He didn't speak with any bitterness or anger, though. It was more like going through the motions, which if he hadn't gotten much sleep this week might well be what was happening.

"Then who does make the decisions?" N asked.

"I think you know very well who does," he said. "And... hey you, where the hell is Ghetsis?"

The Neo Plasma member who'd been trying to retreat out of the battles stopped, looking pale. "Ah, sir, should you really be...?"

"I've been awake for far too long and when I finally get a chance to sleep, the ship crashes, so I don't even care at this point, so just tell me right now before I do something I'll regret later. I at least know that the dragon isn't on board any more."

Perhaps feeling that too much was out already, the man answered, "Ah, I think he's going to be mad at you, but he took them and the Shadow Triad into the cave back there."

"They will be more powerful in there, but we can still make this work," Zekrom said.

"Fine, well there you go," Colress said. Triste poked him in the cheek. "Yeah, yeah, I know. So what're you lot doing here? I doubt you're here to sell cookies."

"Drayden, will you get this man captive and taken care of?" N asked as the Gym Leader came out of his battle. "He knows how the ship works, so we want him watched closely."

"I'll handle him," Drayden said. "But if you're going after the Triad, make sure you have several others with you."

N nodded. "Right."

"Oh, them, them, yeah," Colress said, yawning again. "Triste, did you swap out the energy drink on me? Bah, whatever. If you only meet with two of them, don't worry. Third one's dead already, and the two girls are not in the best of shape. Stubborn as a Tauros, though, and they won't listen to me when I say they shouldn't be fighting or working."

"Drayden, you're in charge here now," N said, stepping back. "Hilda!" Then he had to make quick decisions on who else to take, if two of the Triad were there. "Rosa, Nate, you guys too! Ghetsis isn't here." He glanced to Zekrom. "Which cave?"

She pointed to the north, where a large hole in a rock wall was. "That one."

There was a clanking from the other side of the ship; the team with Rood must have gotten the side door open and a ramp lowered for them. They'd be in soon. N and the three he had called went for the opposite side, had their Pokemon help them get to the ground, then ran for the cave up north. A frigid breeze came from the opening, but it smelled strongly of Reshiram's fire as well.

In an icy passage in between the entrance and the main room, they found the two Shadow Triad women waiting. "So that was you," the Poison one said. "I thought it was a bit spectacular for you to be involved."

"Probably her influence," the Ghost one said.

"I'm going in to stop him," N said. "Not even you are going to dissuade me from that."

"Maybe not us, but what about him?"

Then the other pointed at Rosa. "You killed our brother. Not that it matters; we'd rather be eliminated if we grow weak. But we will eliminate you to prove our strength."

"I didn't mean to kill him," she replied. "But you three are strong, without a good set of morals to guide you. So I'm not going to let you hurt others just because you're strong."

"And I won't let you hurt her," Nate said. "Through my Pokemon, at least."

"It's pitiful that you have to rely on them," one of the Triad said.

"Okay, so if you lot are gonna pick fights with each other, we're out of here," Hilda said, grabbing N and running with him further into the cavern. Zekrom followed after. "They'll be okay, I'm sure."

"I know," N said. "At least we know it'll only be the two of them."

They slowed as they entered the main chamber. Shadows flickered as if lit by candlelight all throughout the cavern, reflected a thousand fold due to the many reflective ice surfaces. In the center of the cavern, there was Kyurem and Reshiram, fused into one being. He had the same general body shape as Reshiram, but with sturdy plates of armor from Kyurem. His scales shone with a shine like polished ice, with a vibrant fiery glow could be seen flowing like blood through his body. However, his eyes showed no expression and he barely reacted to any of them coming in.

On the other hand, Ghetsis looked on them with such hatred that it seemed his gaze would wither plants. But he didn't inspire such intimidation now. N knew that he was rotten to the core, and it seemed that the rottenness had come out onto the surface. He wasn't able to stand up straight, not even with the assistance of his overly elaborate cane. While he had once gone for impressive outfits, his cloak was now tattered and burnt gray; even his other clothes suffered from lack of care and attention. He didn't look powerful at all, rather like he was grasping desperately at former glory. Even Colress in a rumpled state of sleep deprivation was more impressive than Ghetsis was now. Yet that hateful gleam told that he was still dangerous to cross.

But N had Hilda to back him up, along with all the others who were with them. And he knew more now, especially that he couldn't trust this man's words or take them to heart. "Father, I'm here to put an end to your ambitions," N said.

"You look ridiculous," Ghetsis said, sneering.

"Like you're any better," N replied. This wasn't how he would expect this conversation to start.

Ghetsis thumped his cane on the floor. "Don't question me, traitor! I'm the one in charge around here; no one can question me. Why would you even think you can? You're nothing but a weak little puppet, not even human. Nothing you can do would ever amount to anything."

"That may be who I was," N said. "But things have changed. I've seen the world outside your control with my own eyes; I've been able to question and learn things without your interference. You can't control me anymore, and I'm not going to let you take control over everyone."

"Hah, what kind of nonsense does he think he's mewling?" Ghetsis said, glancing over at the dragon at his side. "There's nothing he could do, nothing, that could best me. Kyurem! Take Zekrom from him, now!"

The Kyurem-Reshiram dragon shifted finally, lifting his head. "Zekrom, free them!" N called.

"Of course," she said, not even bothering to shift out of her human form as she shot out a bolt of black lightning again, this time striking her brothers. Something snapped and flew off of the back of his neck. Whatever it was, a long cord sprouted from his back, whipping out towards Zekrom. She stood her ground for a second, making her hair fly and sparks swirl. Then she leaped twelve feet into the air to avoid getting caught... only to have herself get caught anyways when Kyurem-Reshiram corrected the cord's course and absorbed her into them.

Ghetsis laughed in triumph. "And you did exactly what I wanted you to! Now I have control over the Great Zen Dragon and no one can stop me."

"Unless we meant to have that happen," Hilda said, finally speaking up as a brilliant light surrounded the dragons.

"You're just bluffing, you witch!" Ghetsis accused, shaking a fist at her. "I know your tricks. Besides, shouldn't you be dead?"

"No, and you gave me the means to get back home safely, so thanks!" She grinned cheekily at him.

"WHAT?" he roared, but just after he did, the Great Dragon roared in a confused fury. A rumble of cracking earth was heard around them, so N drew Hilda close to him, preparing something Hilbert had taught him. The ice cave exploded outward with a force expelled from the Great Dragon. Using Detect, N was able to pull himself and Hilda to a spot where no dangerous debris fell on them.

The Great Dragon was massive, twice the height that any of the three had been. Aspects of each could be seen in it: black scales from Zekrom, white fur from Reshiram, gray armor from Kyurem. Yet it had a graceful form with its power, blending them all into one cohesive whole. One eye was blue and the other eye was red, but neither seemed to focus outward well. Something within it had it in conflict, imbalanced.

Ghetsis had been knocked onto his knees, losing his cane. The emblem it held had shattered into a dozen pieces, lying on the ground. However, it seemed that he had gotten lucky being by the Great Dragon, and thus not as exposed to falling debris.

Before long, Rosa bounded over to them as Keldeo. "You two okay?" she asked. "Nate and I avoided the explosion, but the Shadow pair wasn't as lucky."

"We're fine," Hilda said. But then the dragon roared and it didn't sound happy.

Ghetsis started laughing. "I knew that would fail... everyone fails me! All of you! I'm the only one who can succeed, only me, for I am perfection! Fine, then if I can't rule the world, at least I released the agent of its destruction. None of you deserve to live."

"I don't think so," Hilda said. Then, from the ship, there came the sound of Curtis singing.

"You're the pitiful one here," N said. "I don't need you anymore. The world doesn't need you. No one needs you. And we won't let you hurt others anymore, no matter what you say."

"Shut up, you stupid boy!" Ghetsis said, snarling once again. "What, do you expect some sappy song to solve everything?"

"Not everything, but," N started to say, but then the Great Dragon interrupted again, this time with a confused sorrowful sound. N couldn't understand the words that Curtis was singing, but the meaning came through nevertheless. His song was one of worship to the Great Dragon, but also of sympathy. The Great Dragon, so powerful that it secluded itself away from others despite its great love for them. This was a song that called on the dragon, not asking for its protection or assistance, but asking for a moment of respectful company. The singer would be a priest or priestess looking to befriend the Great Dragon, learning what it would teach to pass on to the people, then bringing back the people's wishes and prayers to the dragon. Although it surely would know of this, the song was enough to soothe dragon and draw it to Curtis, dressed as one of the ancient priests to further keep it calm until they could get it separated into Kyurem, Reshiram, and Zekrom again.

"You will not succeed!" Ghetsis said, bringing out a single Pokeball and releasing his crazed Hydreigon. The small dragon began cackling immediately, setting its eyes on the Great Dragon.

N immediately blew it out of the sky with Hyper Beam. No need to hold back on that particular Pokemon, just as insane as its Trainer. And then Ghetsis had no other Pokemon. He had nowhere to hide, no power left to rely on to fight for him. And no way to escape, since he had thrown away the Sinnoh guardians' orbs and none of the Shadow Triad was in any condition to teleport him away. He started laughing again, ranting with increasingly unwound logic as they got him secured to be turned over to the police.

* * *

Back at the ship, the Neo Plasma members had been overwhelmed by the number of talented Trainers in the ship invasion group. Colress had given up peacefully, although he was slightly incoherent from lack of sleep. But they needed him awake to do two things immediately. One, make sure that plenty of space on the deck got clear, and two, activate the ship's broadcasting equipment and get a microphone to Curtis. Now he was asleep, despite the broadcast being set at the highest volume to send Curtis' song to the Great Dragon.

Although he saw the dragon flying towards the ship, Curtis continued singing until it landed on the deck in front of him. The metal deck creaked and groaned from the weight, but held as Curtis passed off the microphone, continuing to sing until he got the Great Dragon to lower its head to him. He put his hand on its snout and stroked it. "It's okay," he said soothingly, in the way that he'd sing a lullaby. "You're among friends. We're going to get things sorted out. Listen, I know you were manipulated into rejoining each other, but we would like you to separate into your three selves instead. If you could think clearly, you'd remember why. Please, stay calm and think. Remember us." He started singing the song again, softer.

But for any further, he didn't know what to do. Triste did. Leaving Colress to be watched over by Drayden, the Beeheeyem floated over to Curtis and the Great Dragon in order to enter the latter's mind.

Kyurem's mind had been a frigid expanse of space, nothing but nothingness with the small fragment of his personality trapped inside. The mind of the Great Dragon was far far more. It was everything, including nothing. It was nearly crushing in how overwhelming it was, but Triste had learned with Kyurem. He was able to put the overwhelming nature out of his own mind and pursue the three personalities within.

And there they were, three dragons even though they currently existed as one. Triste found them in a space like the top of Dragonspiral Tower, but in much better repair with plants and flowers decorating it. Reshiram was leaning against a pillar, looking weary with his neck drooping as if he'd had a long hard day. Kyurem was crouched down, with his body pulled in around itself in a way that made him seem a lot smaller than the other two. And then Zekrom was standing there, doing better but covered with frost crystals. She looked over at him. "Oh, it's you, the little flirt."

"Hello again," he said, drifting anxiously. "Um, well... I'm sorry about that. It was kind of an impulse; I'm usually not like that. But then, that's also the reason why we're here. I'm partly to blame for all this."

"How's that?" she asked. Reshiram was looking at him now, although Kyurem still wasn't paying attention.

He told them about how Colress was the leader of Team Plasma now, in a sense, and that in trying to please him, Triste had taken hairs from her when he'd asked to touch them. That and some hairs from Reshiram made the plate that switched Kyurem to his original state of an unthinking shell, and then Triste had been spending a lot of effort ever since trying to undo that while figuring out if Colress really cared about him. It was embarrassing to admit to that. But, telling them how things had come to this should help them find how to come out of it.

"I came in hoping I could convince you to pull yourself back into three beings instead of one," he finished with. "And the people out there are trying to talk you into it, but it wasn't clear how much got through to you three and how much went to the Great Dragon."

"We're aware of them, but we also have to work together on a mental level to do anything as the Great Dragon," Reshiram said. "And it's been so long, during which we've all developed independent personalities, that it's taking quite some effort to coordinate as individuals together instead of an individual divided."

"We very nearly lost that when I was pulled in," Zekrom said. "But my hope was that I could keep myself together long enough to shake you two apart, then agree to split."

"So you could have undone yourselves on your own?" Triste asked.

"You're helping," Reshiram said, getting back to standing on his own. "Knowing that you're in our mind, I want to focus on getting apart with you safe. And I believe that you paid the price for your wrongs in full."

"Yes, you should continue your focus on keeping Colress in check," Zekrom agreed. "He needs your support more than ever. Once we manage to get apart, you've done what you need to help us. Thank you."

"I only did what I had to," Triste said, feeling humbled by their benevolence. He'd helped to inflict this situation on them, and they were thanking him for helping them out instead. "What about Kyurem?"

"I haven't been able to reach him well," Reshiram said. "My head and heart's been cloudy recently, but not as badly as his. I even told him that Hilda was back home, and that she's here now."

"Did he hear the song?" As he said it, Curtis' voice broke through the depths of the Great Dragon's mind. "There are those that want to be your friend out there, Kyurem. They want you back. That's why he's been singing, not for any one of you, but for all three of you. Come on out."

That got Kyurem to react, opening his eyes. Triste then found himself surrounded by blackness, and electricity. "You need to get out, or you might get hurt by this," Zekrom said. Her hair in her human form was long now, and as he'd thought, much prettier than when it was short. She laughed a little at that thought from him, then gently nudged him the rest of the way out of the mind of the Great Dragon.

As they came back into reality, the Great Dragon was gone. Instead, the three legendary guardians of Unova were flying in the air above the fallen ship. Reshiram immediately flew south, heading for Opelucid where his partner was. Zekrom landed outside the ship, waiting on N to return to her. Overhead, Kyurem looked down at the group that had rescued him for a moment, then gave a long trumpeting call to banish the unseasonal ice and snow. However, he vanished as well.


	44. Final Montage

Rosa was visiting home for a couple of days. Her room was like always, as her parents had just made sure things were tidy. While Bard knew this place, it was new to the rest. They poked around and looked while the Dewott sat by her on the living room couch. Her mother was sitting in a chair nearby. "It is nice to have you back," she said with a smile. "It seems like it's been a long time."

She nodded. "Yeah, it does. But it's only been, what, four months? You did come and visit us in Castelia that once, but even then, so much happened."

"Right." She smiled. "Did you make that boy Nate your boyfriend?"

"No," she said, giggling. "You should know... I thought I told you that I was dating Curtis now."

"Oh right, that one you were phone pals with," she said. "I haven't met him, so I don't know what to think."

Rosa leaned on the arm of the chair. "He's actually Christoph, the music star!"

"Really?" she asked, her eyes widening. "That's quite a lucky draw."

Lucky... it made her realize something. "Yeah, but then, it's hardly the strangest or luckiest thing that happened to me. Meeting Nate was strange and lucky enough, since he came from another world. And now he's going to become League Champion. I know he will, as he was already thinking over what to do next and he's out working on that. Then I found out that I'm actually a legendary Pokemon, of my absolute favorite type, and I've got all these wonderful friends I made, human and Pokemon."

"Well I'm just glad that you still consider us family," her mother said with a smile.

"Of course I do," Rosa said with a grin. "You and Dad did more than I asked for, and I know that even if it's kinda hazy. Then I got to meet two of my heroes, Hilda and Wallace; Hilda's already claimed me as a friend and she pulled me along for that rescue mission without a second thought. And Wallace even gave me a Pokemon. I'm still working out how to raise Hikari, but I think it has something to do with making him look nicer instead of stronger. That just," she rubbed her head, "makes sense to me."

"I'd trust your instincts on that," she said. "But you're right; you have been really fortunate lately. You even acted in some short films, which I know are getting popular."

"That's what I was missing!" Rosa said, snapping her fingers. "I knew I forgot something."

Her mother chuckled. "I would say to thank the gods, but then, you're one of them."

"Maybe I should do it anyhow," she said, feeling happy. Someone had certainly blessed her. "Although, I'm not entirely sure what I'll be doing now. I'd think about going back to the Pokestar studios, but Curtis doesn't have a high opinion of them."

"What about the gyms, huh?" Bard asked, putting his paws on her laps. "We can do it!"

Rosa looked at him. "Oh, the gyms, huh? Well Nate's going to be ahead of us no matter what."

"Why don't you aim to try beating him, whether he becomes champion or not?" her mother asked. "Though chasing after that win could take some time, you and your friends here might be able to pull it off."

"Yeah, they're good. Wouldn't that make him my rival?" She thought about it, then smiled. "Hah, but that would surprise him! I wonder how long I can keep it from him."

* * *

Nate came out of the office of Join Avenue and let out a deep breath. He'd just got done talking with Mr. Cartridge, the man who put him in charge of this place. After managing to fill every stall with busy little shops and services, he wanted to clarify just how much he really owned this place. He'd managed to consult a friendly business lawyer about it, but talking with his initial investor, so to speak, was still a little worrisome. He liked this place, and the workers and customers loved it, so he didn't want it to get taken away and changed.

Fortunately, the rich man had hardly noticed how he was doing. Cartridge gave him a revenue challenge to meet before he would turn over all the paperwork. And the tax duties; he had used it in an attempt to make Nate rethink trying to challenge him legally, perhaps. Still, given the Avenue's current revenue, the challenge seemed doable.

"Hey, Nate!" an unfamiliar voice called out. Even though he quickly found the person, he couldn't put a name to his face until he recognized Reshiram in human form coming with him.

"Hi Hilbert," Nate said, nodding. "Nice to see you up and around. Hello Reshiram."

"Hello," Reshiram said, nodding back.

"Well I'm not supposed to be exerting myself too much at the moment, but a friend asked to meet me here," Hilbert said. "This is a lively place." They talked for a while. Eventually, Hilbert asked, "So you've got everything cleared up with your memory?"

"More or less," Nate said with a shrug. "I don't really remember a lot until the point where I came to this world. But given what I remember and what Hilda's told me, I know enough that I don't wonder too much. Except one thing."

"What thing?" Hilbert asked.

"The video game that brought me here. I feel like someone gave it to me, and I'm pretty sure it was a woman. I didn't try starting it until Hilda showed up and her Gothitelle picked up an aberration in space around it. So when I started a new game on it, I got shifted here. It's just an odd thing that I can't explain, and I'm not sure I can get an explanation when I no longer have it."

He crossed his arms over his chest, looking thoughtful. "Huh, yeah, it'd be hard to find anything out about it. If anyone, Giratina might be able to help." Then he raised his eyebrows and looked over at Reshiram. "Unless you know something?"

"It may be more confusing to know than not," Reshiram said, then gave Nate a critical look. "Do you really what to know?"

"I mostly want to know why I ended up with it," Nate said. "It's good that it did, but kind of suspicious... especially when you're asking me if I want to know the truth."

His gaze held, then relented as he sighed. "There are some truths that must be hidden, and many that it's better to find for yourself. But to know that... we need to be careful, although I'm sure she knows that. Let's go talk to her."

"Talk to who, where?" Hilbert asked, to which Reshiram merely pointed over to the stall that was used as an extension for a used book store.

There was a familiar looking woman there, although like with Hilbert, Nate couldn't quite figure out who she was and how he knew her. She blended into the crowd really well, save for the fact that she had a shoulder-slung bookbag that seemed to hold only one immense book. Wait, a woman with an immense book? There was just one Pokemon with her this time, a Gallade. Or was that a Gardevoir with a severely stunted skirt?

The three of them walked over, but she was immersed in comparing books. "Excuse me, but you..." Nate said, trying to find the words to talk with her. "Sorry, I feel like I should know your name, but we met on the ferry a few months back?"

She grinned, trying to finish skimming the book she was considering. "I told you, call me Ysabell." She looked up and waved. "Hi Nate, hi Hilbert. Sorry Reshiram." The Gallade with her looked over them sharply, as if assessing how much of a threat or annoyance they'd be.

For a moment, the dragon was irked. He calmed himself quickly. "You were right, so I'll forgive you. Why are you still around?"

"Just a little bit!" she insisted, closing the book in hand. "Got to check in on a couple of things, tie up a few loose threads. Unless I forgot one somewhere. It's been a while in the works."

"Are you two friends?" Hilbert asked.

Ysabell giggled and Reshiram grumbled, putting his hand on his forehead. "Don't let her appearance fool you. She has great power and I knew the instant she arrived in Unova. Sure, she's helped on a few things, but she gives me a headache."

"Hey, you guys are the ones who do great things," she said. "I just watch and record. Sort of, you know. But I think it's fine for me to move on now. I hear Kalos is a fun place; I was checking into some travel guides and books of legends about a black flower."

"What do you mean by watch and record?" Nate asked. "I thought you were a fortune teller."

She nodded. "I am, and a bit more. But some things are better left unsaid, or else it's like a different fiber in the weave and you can't help but notice it every time you look at the fabric. Or the whole thing comes undone, and we don't want that to happen."

"Hey, that's..." he felt a little lightheaded. "That's like what you said before. You were the one gave me that strange game, weren't you?"

"Wasn't it fun?" she said with a smile.

"But why did it have the power to send me here? And for that matter, how come you can travel between worlds? Because otherwise it couldn't be you." He rubbed his head. "I think I know what you mean, Reshiram."

"That I'm a headache?" she asked, tilting her head. "I know. Well about that, I can't really tell you. At least not exactly." She paused, putting a hand on her large book. "Hey, so, sometimes when you're wr... fortune telling, you notice points where history could have gone another way. And sometimes, I get curious about it and check my book to see what happened on the missed path. Some of those alternate histories remain sturdy, like their own stories. But other times, the damage resulting from what went wrong is far too great. The world becomes unstable and weak."

"We knew that, since that's what happened to my original world," Nate said.

She smiled warmly at him. "Yeah. That's how I found you, looking into what could have been. It was an awful mess, hardly anything left to salvage aside from totally starting over again. But I saw potential in you and decided to tweak your fortunes. The game was a handy tool in that way. In a way, I'm mostly responsible for a lot of what's happened in recent years."

"Actually, Ghetsis was..." Hilbert paused, seeming like he was bothered by something. He looked at Reshiram, who nodded, then back to Ysabell. "How were you responsible?"

"Tweaking fates, for good and for ill," she said, tapping a foot on the floor. "But that's what I do. I do like happy endings, though, so there's that. And you know, back when I met with Nate, Rosa, and Hugh on the ferry, I was planning to let you challenge me to a fight if you figured that out and were mad at me."

"But if you did tweak fates, then you're responsible for fixing whatever you did wrong, right?" Nate asked. "Things got corrected. And if you're part of the reason that I can be here now, well, I can't really be mad at you."

"That's great!" she said cheerfully. "We can be friends."

"We could still have a battle if you want," Nate offered. "If that's actually your Gard..." the white and green Pokemon growled, briefly looking hateful, "Um, Gallade. I know you said the others were visiting you or something."

"She's just visiting me too," Ysabell said. Then she laughed. "But sorry, I'll have to decline. See, I'm actually really bad at Pokemon battles myself. Even though I could invite a number of powerful allies like Michael here, it'd still be in your favor and I'd rather not bother. Oh, and I should be taking care of a few other things before seeing about visiting Kalos. But thanks for talking to me. I'm glad to see that you've both come out better than you started. And spoil Reshiram for a bit, will you? He deserves it for putting up with me."

"I can try, but it could be hard getting him to accept it," Hilbert said. They said goodbye to her before she went to buy the travel guide. Once she and her Pokemon were out of sight, Hilbert asked, "Was that Gallade male or female? I had a hard time telling."

"Should be male, but if you had trouble figuring it out, who knows?" Nate said.

"Michael's both and not of this world," Reshiram said. "Not of your former one either. So I don't know his... her.. whatever, story."

"Is she really a fortune teller?" he asked. Because some of this didn't make sense for a person like that to be doing.

"You'll get worse headaches trying to figure her out any further than that. Besides, it seems she's finally leaving. Hopefully we won't have to worry about her any more. I wonder if I should warn some friends, though..."

"I guess the important thing is that it all turned out well," Nate said. "So then, how would you like to be spoiled, Reshiram? We have quite a few good stores here."

"That won't be necessary," Reshiram said, although it seemed like he was starting to blush.

Hilbert then snapped his fingers. "Oh wait, I remember! That groomer here had offered to schedule you for a session, since it's not that easy to just walk in with a large dragon."

"You really don't have to," he repeated, with very little reluctance.

"Well I'm going to pay for it anyhow," Hilbert said. "Come on, let's go talk with him."

Nate found himself smiling. Things had turned out well. And even if how it all came to be was still not clear, he felt grateful that it had happened. After all, how many people got a second chance at life as drastic as he had? From a sage who blindly helped a world to collapse, to a local hero who helped save another possibly from a similar fate... and there was still much that he could do. He'd enjoy it.

But first, seeing what would certainly be an amusing grooming session with Reshiram.

* * *

It was a beautiful summer day. The sun was bright and warm, with the plants and trees showing few signs of the artificial cold snap a few weeks back. Along the road out of Nuvema, a group walked away from the small town, a number of Pokemon along with their Trainers, Hilda and N. "They had non-Pokemon creatures there too, like bugs, fish, birds, and small animals," she said. "But it seemed like most of them ate vegetation, fruits, seeds, and nuts. A few exceptions, but all were of things that the Pokemon would produce, like honey. I met a family of Shuckles who fermented berries in their shells to make juice, wine, and vinegar. They were pretty cool once you got used to the scent."

"That's good," N said, visibly relieved. "I know that some Pokemon prey on others; it just makes me feel uneasy, even when I know they don't have the same views as humans."

"Well it was what your other self created," she said, but left off as she spotted someone standing in the tall grass. He should have been obvious, from the white hair to the black clothes, but then again he might not have been there a moment before. "Hey Kyurem! There you are; I've been looking all over for you. Sheesh, after we go to all that to rescue you and you just take off again."

He turned to face them. "Sorry," he said. "I knew what was likely; I just had to think about it. And I had to get used to thinking again." Kyurem rubbed his head, although his mask seemed more secure now. "I need to stop disrupting our balance, but sometimes I feel myself drifting back into my original state."

"You should still stick around us," Zekrom said. "There'll be so much activity that you wouldn't have a chance to feel nothing."

"Right," he said, taking a few steps to meet up with them. "Besides, I've settled my mind." He then went to N and put a hand on his shoulder, momentarily startling him. "I don't mind sharing her with you. Just be good to her."

After a moment trying to figure that out, N bowed his head. "Of course, uh, thank you, I guess."

"Wait, what do you mean?" Zekrom suddenly asked, sharply narrowing her eyes at her brother.

"I meant what I said," Kyurem said in a perfect tone of neutrality. It caused Hilda to double over in laughter.

"But what does that mean?" Zekrom said, at the brink of scolding him. "You're acting like you're up to no good again."

Kyurem shrugged. "Isn't that the role that was set for me by the humans?"

"I don't think it means that you... you..." She slapped her hand on her forehead. "Geez."

N took Hilda's arm, worried for a moment that she might trip or lose her breath or something. "Wh-what? Hang on, what's going on?"

"Yo-you b-both," Hilda said, but looking at N's quizzical eyes and Kyurem's prankster smile made her words get choked out by laughs.

"This could be a bad idea," Zekrom said, worried.

"What, that we'll all be friends?" Kyurem asked.

"Ugh, you'd better just be messing with me," she grumbled.

Hilda finally got a hold of herself, then pointed at Kyurem, "Man! Why'd you have to go make it so hard to top you now?"

"I thought you'd like it," he said, finally breaking out a smile.

"Um, could someone please explain what that was all about?" N asked, rubbing his head.

* * *

Colress closed the email, then sat back in his seat. "Another offer on designing an airship," he said in quiet weariness. "That's another thing Umber got right; even with what I helped do, others see enough value in what I know to keep me out of severe punishment. This doesn't feel right. I'd be relieved if the judge called me back and said that I do have to serve prison time."

Although he'd been fascinated in watching out the window of his seat, Triste came closer hearing this. The lights on his fingers shifted. From his research and experience, Colress could translate it as, "Don't take it out on yourself. We will do something great someday, more than enough to make up for it."

"I'm not sure if I can," he said. He wanted to; he knew he should. "My mind's been skewed for all this time. I've been reading over the battle and training journals of those two kids, reminding me of what I'd been forced to give up. I put the whole world in danger just to see if it would match scientific theory... I don't know where to start with trying to do something better."

"You've got your proof that loving care is a vital factor in training Pokemon," Triste signed. "You really should write that paper. And the one on language. We don't need this secret for our friendship to be special."

He smiled and took Triste's small foot. Since they used their hands to communicate, this was a a gesture more equal to a handshake among humans. "You're right, we don't. Giving the linguists one Pokemon language in hopes they can find a key to others, that would make a lot of people and Pokemon happy. I'm not sure it alone would be enough... but we'll try all we can."

Their conversation was disrupted by an announcement that the plane was going to land soon. Colress buckled himself in, with Triste managing his own belt with telekinesis. Trying to calm his nerves, Colress was quiet through the landing. He wanted this to turn out good. He hoped it would and knew there weren't many reasons for it to go wrong. Still, there was a nagging doubt that when all of the truth came out, he wouldn't be accepted. It was too late to avoid this, though.

After coming through the gate and into the airport lobby, he glanced around until he spotted the sign for the missing child support group. Triste came up and tapped his visor. Right, he had it over his eye so often that he neglected to notice it. Colress shifted the visor back as he headed over to the sign, to finally reunite with his parents.

There were tears with the hugs, yet he found himself thinking that he knew what he should do: find a way to make others feel as happy as he did at this moment.

* * *

With the help of River, Spectra, and even Lorax in a pinch, Curtis convinced his guardians that he would be fine for a walk in Pinwheel Forest on his own. The Pokemon could detect danger before he did, then help to hide or defend him. Although, he didn't expect anything bad to happen. Not even someone recognizing him as Christoph, since he was dressed like any other young Trainer out on the road.

Although if this call continued, others in the forest might suspect something. "If you are going to be my new agent, then you should know that I don't intend on sticking to one style of music as I have been," he said. "I don't want to end up in a shallow career again."

"I understand that," he said. "What kind of music are you thinking about branching out to?"

"Well I've been translating some ancient songs into modern notation. I'd like to add some of them to my repertoire. I'll do some pop too, since I still like it."

"I'll have to hear what you have in mind. Are you going to stick with the same persona?"

"I think not. If I could be myself..." There was a quick flash of gray in front of him, so he stopped and looked up in case it was some Pokemon running across his way. It was a Pokemon, but it came to a standstill just a few feet in front of him. And it wasn't just any old Pokemon. A grand figure, standing on four legs taller than him, with a pair of horns that made him think of swords even if they weren't that thin. Cobalion was there, staring at him harshly. "Uh, could we talk more about this at the meeting tomorrow? Something's come up."

At his side, River gripped her hands into fists, but was wary of starting a fight right off. His Spiritomb snickered, lifting her keystone out of his shirt pocket just in case. He wasn't sure how much the agent noticed, but the man replied, "All right, see you then."

"Right." He disconnected the call, not breaking eye contact with Cobalion. He heard footsteps approaching him from either side; they made sure that he heard them. "Hey, um... odd place to run into you. Two of you, anyhow."

"You're going to fold so easily?" Virizion said.

River snarled something, to which Cobalion replied with a snort. The Lucario made a huff and crossed her arms over her chest. But she still looked like she could go into a fight at a moment's notice. On Curtis' other side, Spectra placed her stone on the ground and hovered her spirits close to his legs.

"Not necessarily, but I know when I'm outmatched," Curtis said. "What do you want?"

"You're the one Keldeo's set on?" Cobalion said, a bit in disbelief.

"We were going to challenge you to see what you're made of," Terrakion said. "But you? We could knock you over with a poke."

"What kind of strength can you have?" Virizion asked.

"I know, I'm not strong like you all are," Curtis said. He had thought about what he'd say to these three; knowing that they disliked humans made this somewhat expected. But he had hoped that he'd be with Rosa when they'd run into each other. "We became close before she knew who she was, and my feelings don't change because she's Keldeo too. My main strength is my singing, not fighting. Not even fighting like a Trainer."

Things were silent a moment as the three looked to each other. Then Cobalion stamped a hoof down. "Then prove your strength."

"As you would for her," Virizion added.

"Otherwise, you're definitely not worthy," Terrakion said.

Then they might approve of him? "Well are you going to talk to Rosa? She would like to. But okay, I'll sing for you." Like how he'd sing for Rosa? It didn't take long to consider what song, so he composed himself before he began to sing.

* * *

Time passed, over a year. Past Victory Road, past the Elite challenges, up the grand staircase, they met on the battlefield of champions. As was their preference, all of their Pokemon were out with them.

Nate waited, not dressed any differently than he did any other day; others had noted that he was a humble Champion, quite different from such flashy personalities like Iris and Hilda. Ruby the Emboar stood at his right side, calm but watchful as she kept an eye on all. Patience the Glaceon sat by his left side, a play ball under her foot as if some game had been interrupted for this. Cathy the Liligant was still twirling around, probably not caring to stop until she was called into battle. In contrast, Rune the Sigilyph was perched quietly on an even quieter Signet the Golurk. The two almost seemed like a single ancient statue. Felix the Zoroark was not immediately in sight, hidden unless he was mimicking one of the others who hid.

Rosa stopped her approach, smiling at them. She was dressed more for the occasion, in a flattering pink and silver dress, pink ribbon slippers, pink and silver ribbons in her hair, and the tiny sword with her hairs as Keldeo. Perhaps she'd gotten the idea from Hilda to show up like this. As soon as she had stepped on the upper platform, Bard the Samurott appeared from his Pokeball; he had finally consented to evolve when they started spending more time around the ocean and rivers. The others had an easier time maneuvering on land. Or even simply swimming through the air, as Medusa the Jellicent and Chuchu the Lanturn did. Both of them were happy like the rest, the former being extra flouncy in her movements and the latter sparking in excitement. Grim the Swanna landed on a post, to watch for the time when he would be called for. Elda the Seismitoad hopped along, twitching her fingers and toes in eagerness to begin. Finally, Hikari the Milotic glistened beautifully as he slithered along close behind Rosa. He looked like he could take off for air-swimming as well, if he chose to.

"Hah, I've finally caught up to you!" Rosa said, holding a fist up in triumph. "Now we're going to take you all down!"

"Rosa, I've been waiting for you to show up," Nate said with a nod. "You've done well to get this far, but isn't it a little early to be celebrating?"

Dropping her smile, she put her hands on her hips. "Aw, I was hoping you'd be at least a little surprised to see me here."

He chuckled. "Did you really think you could advance without my notice? Or would you rather us start over, and I'll go..." he paused, then put on an exaggerated expression of shock, "Oh my gosh, Rosa? How in the world did you gt this far?! I thought I'd never see you here but as a spectator."

She laughed. "Aah, Naaaate! That sounds nothing like you! Fine, fine. But I tried. Anyhow, I'm here to challenge you for the championship! You ready?"

"I think that's my line," he said, going back to his usual self. "But very well. I hope you and your Pokemon are ready for the League's highest challenge. I know you've gotten here because of your passions and persistence. Let's see how you fare. Ready? Begin!"

**THE END**


End file.
